Author(s): Danielle Kemmer, Dillon Reynolds, Alyssa Brown, Benjamin Judd, Dean V. Smith, Tyler Jenkins, Asha Ahmed, Amber Thornton Miller, Dylan Jenkins, Nashly Cruz-Guzman
Mentor(s): Peter Iles, Rajan Kochambilli, Ron Valcarce
Institution SLCC
The Great Salt Lake in Utah was at historically low levels during the extreme summer conditions of 2022. This was followed by very rapid melt and run off waters being fed into the lake in 2023. The lake has gained a few feet in depth, but it is still at a very low level. A study to develop methods to measure Fluoride in its different species forms has been commenced. This research group has reported using a Fluoride Ion Selective Electrode for speciation via three sample pretreatments methods for Dental and Pharmaceutical products. The same pretreatments have been used to study a number of samples from different locations in the Great Salt Lake. The treatment combined with the Fluoride Ion Selective Electrode allow the free fluoride ions, HF + Free and therefore HF . Also the total F is determined and by difference the F bound to metals as coordination complexes such as Al, Fe and Ti. The high ionic strength of the samples and the low fluoride levels results working near the detection limit of the Electrode. The speciation and detection limits are reported.