A new strategy for preparation of hair slurries using cryogenic grinding and water-soluble tertiary-amines medium

The investigation of trace metal contents in hair can be used as an index of exposure to potentially toxic elements. Direct determination of Cd, Cu and Pb in slurries of hair samples was investigated using an atomic absorption spectrometer with Zeeman-effect background correction. The samples were pulverized in a freezer/mill for 13 min, and hair slurries with 1.0 g l⁻¹ for the determination of Cu and Pb, and 5.0 g l⁻¹ for the determination of Cd, respectively, were prepared in three different media: 0.1% v/v Triton X-100, 0.14 mol l⁻¹ HNO₃, and 0.1% v/v of CFA-C, a mixture of tertiary amines. The easiest way to manipulate the hair samples was in CFA-C medium. The optimum pyrolysis and atomization temperatures were established with hair sample slurries spiked with 10 μg l⁻¹ Cd²⁺, 30 μg l⁻¹ Pb²⁺, and 10 μg l⁻¹ Cu²⁺. For Cd and Pb, Pd was used as a chemical modifier, and for Cu no modifier was needed. The analyte addition technique was used for quantification of Cd, Cu, and Pb in hair sample slurries. A reference material (GBW076901) was analyzed, and a paired t-test showed that the results for all elements obtained with the proposed slurry sampling procedure were in agreement at a 95% confidence level with the certified values. The cryogenic grinding was an effective strategy to efficiently pulverize hair samples.