Comparison of sample preparation procedures for the determination of trace heavy metals in house dust, tobacco and tea samples by atomic absorption spectrometry

The effect of wet ashing, dry ashing and microwave procedure for the determination of trace metal levels was investigated in house dust, tobacco and tea samples by atomic absorption spectrometry. The study of sample preparation procedures showed that the microwave method was the best. The recovery of trace metals was very good and precision and accuracy were compatible with standard reference material. The relative standard deviations for all measured metal concentrations were lower than 10%. The digestions of HNO3/H2SO4/HClO4 (4: 1: 1) mixture for house dust, HNO3/H2SO4/H2O2 (2: 2: 2) mixture for tea and HNO3/H2O2 (4: 2) mixture for tobacco were very efficient.     

Development and validation of routine analysis methods for the determination of essential, nonessential, and toxic minor and trace elements in cereal and cereal flour samples by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

Various digestion procedures were carefully investigated and accurately evaluated with respect to their effect on the analysis of cereals and cereal flours. Multielement methods were selected and well developed for the determination of essential (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, and Zn), nonessential (Ag, Al, Ba, Bi, In, and Ga), and toxic (Cd and Pb) minor and trace elements by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. Only Ag could be determined, either with aqueous standard or standard addition calibration methods, while the standard addition methods were more accurate for the determination of other elements. The recoveries were mostly within the range of 84.1-113% for the expected values of all analytes with respect to certified reference material NIST SRM 1586a (rice flour). The results proved that, for cereals and cereal flours, the use of H2O2 for wet digestion and HNO3 for dry ashing were not necessary. Linear regression analysis and Student's paired t-test were applied to evaluate the significant differences between different procedures and type of samples.     

Use of microwave digestion and atomic absorption spectrophotometry to determine chromic oxide as a digestibility marker in feed, feces, and ileal content.

Most conventional digestion procedures, such as dry ashing and wet ashing, are tedious and labor intensive. Microwave digestion is a good alternative, because microwave dissolution is faster, safer, and simpler, and provides more controlled reproducible conditions than conventional methods. The purpose of this study was to develop a microwave digestion method for mineralizing meat and bone meal diets, feces, and ileal contents. Each sample was heated on a hot plate for 10 min, dry ashed at 65 degrees C for 4 h, and transferred into microwave vessels. Then, 10 mL 70% HNO3 was added. Samples were digested for 7, 10, and 20 min at 95, 90, and 85% power, respectively. After the heating cycle, 6 mL 30% H2O2 was added, and samples were returned to the microwave for a second heating cycle of 1 and 7 min at 95% and 90% power, respectively. Finally, chromium concentration was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The digestion method was validated by using a standard reference material, SRM domestic sludge 2781, with a certified chromium value of 195 +/- 9 micrograms/g. The value obtained in this study was 178 +/- 11 micrograms/g, for a difference of 17 micrograms/g. Spike recovery experiments resulted in 103.16 and 100.35% recoveries of chromium from diet and feces samples, respectively. Coefficients of variation were 10.8 and 7.8%, respectively.     

Boron determination in biological materials by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission and mass spectrometry: effects of sample dissolution methods

This study compares four sample dissolution methods for Boron determination in two National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) botanical Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and three Agriculture Canada/NIST RMs, each having a reference (certified or best estimate) B concentration. The dissolution treatments consisted of: 1) dry ashing at 500° C, 2) wet digestion with HNO₃ + H₂O₂, 3) extraction with hot HNO₃ and 4) closed vessel microwave dissolution. The samples were spiked before and after imposing dissolution treatments to study B recovery by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) analysis. Microwave digests of NIST SRM 1515 and some in-house RMs were also used to compare the B values of ICP-MS and ICP-AES (atomic emission spectrometry). While all three digestion methods (dry ashing, wet ashing and microwave) dissolved botanical samples, only the microwave method worked well for animal tissues. In terms of B values in these materials, there was no significant difference among the three digestion treatments. Near 100% recovery of B spiked before and after the sample dissolution indicates that there may not be a significant loss of B during the dissolution process used in this study. Extraction with hot HNO₃ was as effective as the three digestion treatments, and B values for this method agreed well with reference values. For the botanical materials studied, the B values determined by ICP-AES were not significantly different from ICP-MS values. This study shows that a simple, time and labor efficient hot HNO₃ extraction is as effective as other digestion/dissolution methods for quantitative B recovery from biological materials. Received: 13 June 1996 / Revised: 17 September 1996 / Accepted: 19 September 1996     

Application of factorial design in optimization of ultrasonic-assisted extraction of aluminum in juices and soft drinks

A sample preparation method based on ultrasound-assisted pseudo-digestion of Al from Juices and soft drink samples under ultrasonic effect has been described. A Plackett-Burman experimental design was used as a multivariate strategy for the evaluation of the effects of varying several variables at once. The effects of five different variables preintensification time (without ultrasonic stirring), intensification time in ultrasonic bath (UB), temperature of UB, two acid mixtures (HNO(3)-H(2)SO(4)-H(2)O(2) and HNO(3)-H(2)O(2)), on the recovery of Al have been investigated. From these studies, certain variable showed up as significant, and they were optimized by a using 2(3)+star central composite design, which involved 16 experiments. The best conditions for pseudo-digestion were as follows: a preintensification time 10min, intensification time 20min, volume of acid mixtures 3.0ml and temperature of ultrasonic bath 80 degrees C. A conventional acid digestion on electric hot plate was used to obtain total Al for comparative purpose. Final solutions obtained from both methods, were analysed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Analytical results for the Al by ultrasound-assisted pseudo-digestion, and conventional wet digestion methods showed a good agreement, thus indicating the possibility of using ultrasonic-assisted digestion sample preparation instead of intensive treatments inherent with the acid digestion methods on electric hot plate. The procedure proposed allowed the determination of Al with detection limit (3alpha/s) 10mugl(-1).     

ICP-MS测定土壤中铅同位素比值及地域差异性比较

建立用HNO_3-H_2O_2-HF体系微波消解前处理样品,利用电感耦合等离子体质谱测定土壤中铅同住素比值的方法,探讨并优化了影响测试结果的两种干扰因素.该方法中~(207)Pb/~(206)Pb和~(208)Pb/~(206)Pb的短期测量稳定性RSD分别达到0.12%和0.13%,长期测量的偏差分别在0.002和0.01以内,样品测量的最佳范围是10～40μg/L.采用标样-样品交叉法测定了湖南、湖北、云南、贵州、河南、福建、辽宁7个省的48个地区土壤中的铅同位素比值,结合聚类分析和主成分分析比较了各省土壤中同位素分布的差异,初步探讨了利用~(207)Pb/~(206)Pb和~(208)Pb/~(206)Pb比较烟叶产区的可能性.     

微波消解-FAAS法测定大别山区三种中药中的微量元素

采用微波消解-火焰原子吸收光谱(FAAS)法对大别山区3种中药(何首乌、黄精和拐枣)中的微量元素进行测定。用微波消解仪处理样品,对消解条件及消解程序进行优化,在最佳微波消解条件下,结合FAAS法测定上述3种中药中Ca、Mg、Cu、Zn、Fe、Mn 6种元素的含量。结果表明,微波消解的最佳条件为:何首乌和拐枣采用HNO3-H2O2混酸体系,配比分别为5∶2和5∶3,固液比1∶20,最高功率(700W)时的保温时间分别为8min和6 min;黄精采用HNO3-HCl,混酸体系,配比5∶2,固液比1∶28,保温时间为8 min。所建立的定量分析方法回收率为95.63%～101.36%,相对标准偏差小于3.0%,线性相关系数大于0.999,方法检出限为0.18～2.20 ng/mL。3种中药中均含有丰富的微量元素,尤其是黄精中Fe、Ca和Mn的含量较高;何首乌中Mg、Zn和Fe含量相对较高;拐枣中Fe和Ca含量相对较高。研究结果可为上述3种中药中微量元素的含量与其药效的相关性提供科学依据。     

Comparison of different digestion methods for total decomposition of siliceous and organic environmental samples.

A comparison was made of different digestion methods for the total decomposition of siliceous and organically environmental samples prior to their analysis by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). In the present study, three different digestion methods, including microwave-assisted, hot plate heating and pressurized digestion (pressure bomb), were employed for the determination of nine heavy metals, i.e. Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in sediment, soil, sludge and oil. The investigation of different combinations of acids through their analytical performance demonstrated that HCl plays a vital role in the determination of silver. The combination of HNO3 and HCl possesses more reactive ability in oxidizing organic matter. The recoveries of all elements of interest in sediment (NIST 2704) obtained by different digestion methods were found to be 86% to 113%, while microwave assisted digestion with various combinations of HNO3-HCl-HF and HNO3-HClO4-HF was considered to be a viable alternative to the conventional digestion systems because of its more intensive reaction conditions. The analytical results of four certified reference materials with different matrices, including sediment (GBW 07305), soil (GBW 07411), sludge (BCR R-143) and oil (NIST 1085a), by the microwave-assisted acid digestion method indicated that the recoveries of all elements of interest were more than 85% and the throughput of applied analytical method could be elevated significantly.     

ICP–AES法同时检测生蚝中铅、铜、镉、铬、铁含量时3种样品前处理方法比较

采用干法、湿法和微波消解法处理珠海生蚝样品,用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪在谱线Pb 220.3 nm,Cu 324.7 nm,Cd 228.8 nm,Cr 283.5 nm,Fe 259.9 nm下测定样品中铅、铜、镉、铬、铁5种重金属元素的含量。结果表明,珠海市4个养殖基地的生蚝重金属含量均在国标限量范围内。铅、铜、镉、铬、铁各元素线性相关系数分别为0.999 8,0.999 4,0.999 9,0.999 2,0.997 8,检出限分别为0.020,0.014,0.001,0.036,0.120 mg/kg。干法、湿法、微波消解法的加标回收率分别为72.8%~99.3%,88.0%~102.0%,89.0%~103.0%。微波消解处理样品,ICP–AES法同时测定4种样品中5种重金属的含量,其测定结果的相对标准偏差均小于17%。微波消解–ICP–AES适合生蚝中铅、铜、镉、铬、铁含量的快速测定。     

Determination of Al,B and 11 Other Trace Elements in Plants by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry:Comparison of Five Different Sample Digestion Procedures

For accurate determination of nutritional and toxic elements in plants by means of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), sample preparation is a critical phase. Although some procedures such as dry ashing in a muffle furnace or wet digestion with HN0₃-HC10₄ on a hot plate have been available for many years, growing interest has been focused on the use of microwave-based digestion in recent years. Compared to the classical digesting procedures, microwave digestion has some significant advantages:the digestion is carried out in closed vessels so that the contamination and the loss of volatile elements are markedly minimized; the digestion is less time consuming due to the elevated pressure and temperature within the vessels. In addition, the use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vessels for microwave digestion makes it both easy and safe to employ very corrosive reagents, such as HF.     

Determination of mineral and trace element concentrations in pine needles by ICP-OES: evaluation of different sample pre-treatment methods

In the present study, the determination of mineral and trace elements (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn) from pine needles using three sample pre-treatment methods followed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, was examined. Sample pre-treatment methods tested were microwave digestion, ultrasound-assisted digestion and dry ashing. The new ultrasound-assisted digestion method was optimised by the analysis of the standard reference material (SRM) 1575a (pine needles) sample. The speed of dry ashing method was significantly increased by ultrasound dissolution after ashing. All the ICP-OES measurements were performed in robust plasma conditions which were tested by measuring the Mg II 280.270 nm/Mg I 285.213 nm line intensity ratios. The microwave digestion resulted generally in slightly higher element concentrations than ultrasound-assisted digestion. B, Cu and Na resulted in such low concentrations that they could not be accurately determined by using the microwave digestion method. The t-tests found no significant differences between the certified and the determined element concentrations of the SRM 1575a using the dry ashing method followed with ultrasound dissolution.     

Preparation of conducting electrodes from biological samples for multi-element trace analysis by spark-source mass spectrometry or emission spectrometry

Four decomposition procedures frequently used for biological material (dry ashing, open wet digestion, wet digestion in a teflon bomb and low-temperature ashing) are optimized for the conversion of biological samples to conducting electrodes suitable for multi-element trace determinations by spark-source mass spectrometry or emission spectrometry. The optimized procedures are evaluated with respect to contamination, retention and preconcentration of the trace elements, homogeneity of the electrodes and precision of the final results. Both dry-ashing methods are prone to losses by volatilization; simple dry ashing suffers from contamination problems during electrode preparation. Wet digestion gives better precision; digestion with nitric/sulfuric acids in an open flask is the method of choice for most elements being simpler and giving lower blanks than the bomb method.     

微波消解/ICP-MS同时测定粮食、蔬菜中的11种重金属元素

建立了微波消解/电感耦合等离子体质谱法同时测定粮食和蔬菜中11种重金属元素(Cu、Mn、Cr、Pb、Cd、Ni、Sb、Hg、Co、Ag、As)的方法,优化了微波消解条件和仪器测定条件,采用HNO_3-HF-H_2O_2和HNO_3-H_2O_2两种混酸体系,将样品进行完全消解。结果显示,11种金属元素的线性系数不小于0.999 5,方法的检出限为0.001~10.00μg/L,测定的相对标准偏差(RSD,n=5)不大于5.0%。该方法具有快速、简便、灵敏度高、稳定性好、准确度高等优点。     

Optimization of microwave digestion for mercury determination in marine biological samples by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry

Optimization of acid digestion method for mercury determination in marine biological samples (dolphin liver, fish and mussel tissues) using a closed vessel microwave sample preparation is presented. Five digestion procedures with different acid mixtures were investigated: the best results were obtained when the microwave-assisted digestion was based on sample dissolution with HNO3-H2SO4-K2Cr2O7 mixture. A comparison between microwave digestion and conventional reflux digestion shows there are considerable losses of mercury in the open digestion system. The microwave digestion method has been tested satisfactorily using two certified reference materials. Analytical results show a good agreement with certified values. The microwave digestion proved to be a reliable and rapid method for decomposition of biological samples in mercury determination.     

Comparison of partial digestion procedures for determination of Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, and Zn in milk by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry

A fast procedure was developed for determination of Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, and Zn in milk samples. This procedure consisted of a partial digestion with hydrochloric acid on a hot plate. The results obtained were compared with 3 other digestion procedures (dry ashing and 2 microwave digestions). All the procedures showed similar precision levels, with coefficients of variation <10% for most analyzed elements. Accuracy was evaluated by using certified reference materials, and the values obtained were within the confidence intervals for these products. The results obtained were not considered statistically different. The partial digestion on a hot plate with HCl can be very practical for laboratories with relatively large numbers of sample analyses.     

Determination of heavy metals in soil, mushroom and plant samples by atomic absorption spectrometry

The concentrations of heavy metals in the soil, mushroom and plant samples collected from Tokat, Turkey have been determined by flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after dry ashing, wet ashing and microwave digestion. The study of sample preparation procedures showed that the microwave digestion method was the best. Good accuracy was assured by the analysis of standard reference materials. The relative standard deviations for all measured metal concentrations were lower than 10%. In all cases, quantitative analytical recoveries ranging from 95 to 103% were obtained. Metal accumulation factors were calculated for mushroom and plant samples. High ratio of plants to soil cadmium, zinc and copper concentrations indicate that these elements are accumulated by mushrooms. Results obtained are in agreement with data reported in the literature.     

电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法测定REACH法规涉及产品中铅、铬、钴、砷、锡、铝、锆、钼和硼

采用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法对REACH法规涉及产品中铅、铬、钴、砷、锡、铝、锆、钼和硼的含量进行测定。0.2g样品经微波消解处理,聚合物材质试样以8mL硝酸和2mL过氧化氢为消解试剂;无机非金属材质试样以6mL硝酸、2mL过氧化氢和2mL氢氟酸为消解试剂。各元素的方法检出限均低于15mg·kg-1。方法的加标回收率在82.4%～108%之间,测定值的相对标准偏差(n=7)在3%～6%之间。     

微波消解样品-离子色谱法测定卷烟纸中钠、钾、镁、钙的含量

提出了离子色谱法同时测定卷烟纸中钠、钾、镁和钙含量的方法。卷烟纸试样经硝酸-过氧化氢-氢氟酸微波消解,以IonPac CS16阳离子交换柱为固定相,用0.027 mol.L-1甲烷磺酸溶液作流动相。钠、钾、镁和钙4种元素在30 min内可完全分离;各离子的检出限(3S/N)分别为13,15,8.1,97 mg.L-1。方法的加标回收率在100.9%～108.8%之间,测定值的相对标准偏差(n=5)在0.87%～3.4%之间。     

Determination of essential metals in complete diet feed by flow injection and flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A prior study of different sample pre-treatments for the determination of metallic elements in complete diet feeds was performed in order to choose the most suitable for these samples. The studied pre-treatment were: acid extraction (lixiviation), wet digestion (on microwave oven) and dry ashing mineralization (calcination). Lixiviation (acid extraction) with hydrochloric acid was selected due to its accuracy, fast and simple pre-treatment procedure. Due of the different levels of concentration of the metallic elements in the samples, the same manifold was used but with small variations. Copper (with on-line pre-concentration by chelating Chelex-100 resin), calcium (with on-line dilution) and iron determination gave suitable accuracy and precision and required a little time for analysis. Five different samples were analyzed by flow injection and the results were contrasted with dry ashing mineralization in batch procedure and with the labeled contents.