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Due to the versatile usage and applications of chromium compounds in the industry worldwide, the chromium ions are present in the major effluents from a broad range of industries. Cr(VI) which is highly hazardous and carcinogenic poses a serious threat to the our ecosystem and human health even at very low concentration limits. Cr(III) ions are also toxic to aquatic life, but they are less harmful than Cr(VI) ions. Therefore, detection and analysis of the toxic Cr(VI) and Cr(III) ionic species in waste water are an utmost important area of research. Various chemical reagents and the different methods which require expensive instrumentation used in the past for detection and determination of the non-biodegradable Cr(VI) ions suffer from serious limitations. The present review summarises the use of spectrophotometric methods of determination of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) ions from aqueous solutions with high sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy and at lesser costs. The use of chemical reagents such as diphenylcarbazide (DPC) and several other dye-based reagents for spectrophotometric determination of hazardous Cr ions in water samples is discussed. Additionally, the use of DPC reagent in developing advanced technologies such as microfluidic detection system, microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) and 3D printed device with online spectrophotometric detection system for onsite monitoring of water samples is elucidated. Different methods for selective speciation and preconcentration of Cr(VI) ions prior to spectrophotometric determination in water samples with very low concentrations (as low as ppb) of Cr ions are also described. The emerging trends in detection and determination of carcinogenic Cr(VI) ions involving the use of novel and innovative technologies and different categories of nanomaterials are also elucidated in the present review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]