Atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace amounts of nickel after preconcentration with [1-(2-Pyridylazo)-2-Naphthol]-Naphthalene adsorbent or after adsorption of its complex on microcrystalline naphthalene

An atomic absorption spectrometric method for the determination of trace amounts of nickel after adsorption of its 1 -(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol complex on microcrystalline naphthalene has been developed. This complex is adsorbed on microcrystalline naphthalene in the pH range 4.5-7.8 from large volumes of aque ous solutions of various alloys and biological and environmental samples containing nickel. After filtration, the solid mass consisting of nickel complex and naphthalene was dissolved in 5 mL of dimethylformamide, and the metal was determined using a flame atomic absorption spectrometer at a wavelength of 232 nm. Alternatively, nickel can be quantitatively adsorbed on [l-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol]-naphthalene adsorbent packed in a column and determined similarly. The calibration curve is linear over the concentration range 2.0-100 Μg of nickel in 5 mL of the final dimethylformamide solution. Eight replicate determinations of 20 Μg of nickel give a mean absorbance of 0.072 with a relative standard deviation of 1.3%. The sensitivity for 1% absorption is 0.24 Μg/mL. Various parameters such as the effect of pH, the volume of the aqueous phase, and the interference of a large number of metal ions with the determination of nickel have been studied in detail to optimize the conditions for its determination in various standard alloys and biological and environmental samples. This article was submitted by the authors in English.     

Preconcentration and Determination of Trace Nickel Using 1-(2-Pyridylazo)-2-Naphtol (PAN) Immobilized on Surfactant-Coated Alumina

A microcolumn of alumina modified with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) was prepared for the preconcentration of trace nickel from water samples for a flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) determination. Under optimized conditions (pH = 4.0; flow rate, 5 mL min^–1) nickel (II) was retained on the column. The nickel collected on the column was eluted with 5 mL of 0.5 M nitric acid. Recovery was greater than 96.7%. A concentration factor of 300 can be achieved by passing 1500 mL of sample through the microcolumn. The relative standard deviation (ten replicate analyses) at the 40 ng mL^–1 level for nickel was 2.4%, and the corresponding limit of detection (based on 3) was 0.06 ng mL^–1. The method was applied to the determination of Ni in waste and mineral waters.     

Interference-free determination of trace levels of gold and palladium in geological and metallurgical samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry coupled with a flow injection on-line microcolumn preconcentration and separation system

A simple and highly selective method was developed for the routine determination of trace or ultratrace amounts of gold and palladium in geological and metallurgical samples. The method uses flow injection on-line preconcentration and separation with determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Au and Pd in the sample are adsorbed on a 2-mercaptopyrimidine chemically modified silica gel (MPMSG) packed microcolumn in a 0.50M HCl medium and then eluted with 0.5 or 1.0% thiourea solution. The eluates are introduced into the flame atomic absorption spectrometer directly. With the use of a 0.85 mL microcolumn (about 0.14 g MPMSG packed), the present system tolerated concentrations of common base metal ions up to 25.0 mg/mL and concentrations of anions up to 100.0 mg/mL when Au(III) at 0.100 microg/mL and Pd(II) at 0.200 microg/mL were preconcentrated for 60 s with a sample flow rate of 5.0 mL/min. The limits of detection were 3.1 ng/mL for Au(III) and 6.1 ng/mL for Pd(II) with relative standard deviations of < or = 2.5%. The analytical results obtained by the proposed method for geological and metallurgical samples were in good agreement with the certified values.     

Preparation of poly(propyleneimine) dendrimer immobilized silica gel and its application as novel microcolumn packing for the on-line FI preconcentration and separation of platinum

A G4.0 poly(propyleneimine) dendrimer immobilized silica gel (PPID-SG) was prepared with a divergent approach from gamma-aminopropyl silica gel (APSG) by repeating the reactions: 1) cyanoethylation of -NH2 and 2) reduction of -CN. Then it was successfully applied as the microcolumn packing for the on-line flow-injection (FI) preconcentration and separation and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) determination of Pt. A limit of detection (LOD) of 0.014 microg/mL was obtained when 0.5 microg/mL Pt in chloride acid of PH = 3 was preconcentrated with a sample flow rate of 4.6 mL/min for 60s and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 2.65%. Coexisting metal ions with concentration of 5.0 mg/mL and anion ions of 20.0 mg/ml have no interference in the determination of Pt. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of Pt in nickel alloy and anode slime samples.     

Determination of trace amounts of Pd(II) ions in water and road dust samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after preconcentration on modified organo nanoclay

This paper describes the application of organo nanoclay, an easily prepared and stable solid sorbent, to the preconcentration of trace amounts of palladium ions in aqueous solution. The organo nanoclay was prepared by adding tetradecyldimethylbenzylamonium chloride onto montmorillonite, which was then modified with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol. The modified nanoclay was used as a solid sorbent for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of Pd(II) ions, and a simple, sensitive, and economical method was developed for determination of trace amounts of palladium by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The sorption of Pd(II) ions was quantitative in the pH range of 1.5-5.0, whereas quantitative desorption occurred with 5.0 mL of a mixture containing 1.0 M thiourea and 1.0 M HCl. The RSD of the method was +/- 2.1% (n = 10; concn = 0.5 microg/mL), and the LOD (3sigma(bl); sigma = SD and bl = blank) was 0.1 ng/mL. The calibration curve was linear for concentrations of 0.5-8.0 microg/mL in the initial solution, and the preconcentration factor was 140. The maximum capacity of the sorbent was 2.4 mg Pd(II)/g modified organo nanoclay. The influences of the experimental parameters, including sample pH, eluant volume, eluant type, sample volume, and interfering ions, on the recoveries of the palladium ion were investigated. The proposed method was applied to the preconcentration and determination of palladium in different samples.     

Simultaneous extraction of trace amounts of cobalt, nickel and copper ions using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles without chelating agent

The present study investigates the application of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as an adsorbent for solid phase extraction and their subsequent determination of trace amounts of cobalt, nickel and copper from environmental water samples using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The analyte ions were adsorbed on magnetic nanoparticles in the pH range of 10–12 and then, Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were easily separated from the aqueous solution by applying an external magnetic field and decantation. Hence, no filtration or centrifugation was needed. After extraction and collection of magnetic nanoparticles, the analyte ions were desorbed using 1.0 M HNO₃. Several factors that may affect the preconcentration and extraction process, including pH, type and volume of eluent, sample volume, salt effect and matrix effect were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, linearity was maintained from 0.005–3.0 μg/mL for cobalt and nickel and 0.001 to 1.25 μg/mL for copper in the initial solution. The detection limits of this method for cobalt, nickel and copper ions were 0.9, 0.7 and 0.3 ng/mL, respectively. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of the analyte ions in natural waters and reference plant samples.     

Simultaneous derivative spectrophotometric determination of zinc and cadmium with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol in the presence of cetylpyridinium chloride.

A selective and sensitive derivative photometric method has been developed for the determination of trace amounts of Zn2+ with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol in the presence of cetylpyridinium chloride, a cationic surfactant. The molar-absorption coefficient and analytical sensitivity of the 1:2 complex at 554 nm are 1.19 x 10(5) L mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.56 ng mL(-1), respectively. The detection limit is 1.96 x 10(-2) ng mL(-1) and Beer's law is valid in the 0.02-0.66 microg mL(-1) range of Zn2+. The developed derivative procedure, using the zero-crossing measurement approach, is applied for the rapid and selective simultaneous determination of Zn2+ and Cd2+ in the range of 0.06-0.66 and 0.20-1.60 microg mL(-1), respectively. Complex matrices, including reference materials, environmental and biological samples and synthetic mixtures, have been successfully analyzed for trace amounts of the two metal ions.     

Flow-injection flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace amounts of cadmium in solid and semisolid milk products coupling a continuous ultrasound-assisted extraction system with the online preconcentration on a chelating aminomethylphosphoric acid resin

A new sensitive and low-cost method that combines continuous acid extraction, online preconcentration, and flame atomic absorption spectrometry for cadmium determination at microg levels in solid and semisolid milk products is described. A continuous ultrasound-assisted extraction system is used to carry out the dynamic acid extraction step. The acid extract is preconcentrated online on a minicolumn packed with a chelating resin (Chelite P, with aminomethylphosphoric acid groups), and the retained cadmium is eluted with hydrochloric acid and continuously monitored by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. An experimental design (Plackett-Burman 2-6*3/16) is used to optimize the continuous extraction and the preconcentration step. The method allowed a total sampling frequency of 28 samples/h. A good precision of the whole procedure (3.0% relative standard deviation) for a cheese sample containing 0.103 +/- 0.004 microg/g Cd (dry mass), a high enrichment factor (20.5), and detection and quantification limits of 0.014 and 0.067 microg/g, respectively, for a 60 mg of sample were obtained with this methodology. The method was successfully applied to the determination of trace amounts of cadmium in solid and semisolid milk products, such as cheese and yogurt samples.     

Solid-liquid extraction and preconcentration of trace nickel using 2-nitroso-1-naphthol-4-sulfonic acid (Nitroso-S) and TDBA onto benzophenone and determination by atomic absorption spectrometry.

Nickel was quantitatively retained by 2-nitroso-1-naphthol-4-sulfonic acid (Nitroso-S) and tetradecyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride (TDBA Cl) onto benzophenone in the pH range 5.0-6.0 from large volumes of aqueous solutions of various samples. After filtration, each solid mass consisting of a nickel complex and benzophenone was dissolved with 5 ml of dimethylformamide (DMF) and the metal was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). About 0.6 microg of nickel could be concentrated from 200 ml of an aqueous sample, where its concentration was as low as 3.0 ng/ml. Eight replicate determinations of 2.5 microg/ml of nickel in the final DMF solution gave a mean absorbance of 0.112 with a relative standard deviation of 1.9%. The sensitivity for 1% absorption was 98 ng/ml. The interference of a number of anions and cations was studied and the developed optimized conditions were utilized for the trace determination of nickel in various alloys and biological samples.     

Doehlert matrix for optimisation of procedure for determination of nickel in saline oil-refinery effluents by use of flame atomic absorption spectrometry after preconcentration by cloud-point extraction

This paper proposes a preconcentration procedure for determination of nickel in saline aqueous waste samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). It is based on cloud-point extraction of nickel(II) ions as 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethilaminophenol (Br-PADAP) complexes using octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (Triton X-114) as surfactant. The optimisation step was performed using a four-variable Doehlert design, involving the factors centrifugation time (CT) of system after addition of surfactant, solution pH, methanol volume (MV) added at micellar phase, and buffer concentration (BC). The analytical response used was absorbance, after volume correction. Using the established experimental conditions in the optimisation step the procedure enables nickel determination with a detection limit (3 delta/ S) of 0.2 microg L(-1), quantification limit (10 delta/ S) of 0.7 microg L(-1), and precision, calculated as relative standard deviation ( RSD) of 4.7 ( n=8) and 3.5% ( n=8) for nickel concentration of 1 and 5 microg L(-1), respectively. The preconcentration factor, determined from the ratio of the slopes of the analytical curves with and without preconcentration, is 74. The recovery achieved for nickel determination in the presence of several cations demonstrated that this procedure could be applied for analysis of water samples. The robustness was checked by using saturated fractional factorial designs, centred on the established experimental conditions in the optimisation step. The results of these tests demonstrated that the variables centrifugation time and buffer concentration are robust for modification by 10% and that solution pH and methanol volume are robust for 5%. Accuracy was evaluated by using the certified material reference SLEW-3 estuarine water for trace metals. The procedure was used for determination of nickel in saline effluents from oil refinery samples. Recovery results (95-104%) indicate that the procedure has satisfactory accuracy for nickel determination in these samples.     

Flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace amounts of palladium,gold and nickel after cloud point extraction

In this article, a sensitive cloud point extraction procedure for the preconcentration of trace amounts of palladium, gold and nickel prior to their determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry has been developed. The cloud point extraction method is based on the complexation of Pd(II), Au(II), and Ni(II) ions with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol and entrapping in non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114. The main factors affecting cloud point extraction efficiency, such as pH of sample solution, concentration of 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol and Triton X-114, equilibration temperature and time, were investigated in detail. Under the optimized conditions, calibration curves were constructed for the determination of palladium, gold and nickel according to the general procedure. Linearity was maintained from 0.01 to 1.0 μg/mL for palladium, 10.0 μg/mL to 1.5 μg/mL for gold, and 10.0 μg/mL to 0.5 μg/mL for nickel. Detection limits based on three times the standard deviation of the blank divided by the slope of analytical curve (3Sb/m) for Pd(II), Au(III), and Ni(11) ions were 3.4, 3.9, and 2.4 μg/mL, respectively. Seven replicate determination of a mixture of 0.5 μg/mL palladium and gold and 0.2 μg/mL nickel gave a mean absorbance of 0.174, 0.150, and 0.201 with relative standard deviation ±1.5, ±1.3, and ±1.8%, respectively. The high efficiency of cloud point extraction to carry out the determination of analytes in complex matrices was demonstrated. The proposed method has been applied for determination of trace amount of palladium, gold and nickel in certified reference material and water samples with satisfactory results.     

二苯硫脲-醋酸丁酯萃取-石墨炉原子吸收法测定地球化学样品中痕量银

对石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定地球化学样品中痕量银进行了研究。样品经盐酸、硝酸、硫酸、高氯酸溶解,在盐酸(1.2mol/L)介质中用醋酸丁酯萃取银与二苯硫脲螯合物,用石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定地球化学样品中痕量银,方法检出限为0.011ng/mL,相对标准偏差(RSD,n=11)为6.0%~12.2%,加标回收率为96.00%~105.00%。能满足地球化学样品中银含量为0.02~5μg/g范围内银测定的准确度和精密度的要求。     

Potential of Modified Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with 1-(2-Pyridylazo)-2-naphtol as a New Solid Sorbent for the Preconcentration of Trace Amounts of Cobalt(II) Ion

The present paper reports on the application of modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MMWCNTs) as a new, easily prepared and stable solid sorbent for the preconcentration of trace Co(II) in aqueous solution. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were oxidized with concentrated HNO(3) and modified with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphtol (PAN), and were then used as a solid phase for the preconcentration of Co(II). Factors influencing the sorption and desorption of Co(II) were investigated. Elution was carried out with 0.5 mol L(-1) HNO(3). The amount of eluted Co(II) was measured using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The effects of the experimental parameters, including the sample pH, sample flow rate, eluent flow rate and eluent concentration, were investigated. The effect of coexisting ions showed no interference from most ions tested. The proposed method permitted a large enrichment factor (about 300). The precision of the method was 1.63% (for eight replicate determination of 0.5 microg mL(-1) of Co(II)) and the limit of detection was 0.55 ng mL(-1). The method was applied to the determination of Co(II) in water, biological and standard samples.     

Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Determination of Cu(II), Co(II), Cd(II), Fe(III) and Mn(II) in Ammonium Salts and Industrial Fertilizers after PrEconcentration/Separation on Diaion HP-20

A sensitive and simple separation-enrichment technique for the determination of trace amounts of Cu(II), Co(II), Cd(II), Fe(III) and Mn(II) was described. Metal ions were complexed with 1-nitroso-2-naphthol at pH 9. Following solid-phase extraction on Diaion HP-20 resin, metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The effect of the matrix ions were investigated. The recoveries of metal ions were greater than 95%. The detection limits of the analyte ions ( k = 3, N = 21) were varying 0.18 µg/l for Cd(II) to 0.44 µg/l for Fe(III). The method was applied to a stream sediment standard reference material (GBW7309), some ammonium salts and industrial fertilizer samples for the determination of copper, cobalt, cadmium, iron and manganese. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of the determinations for analyte ions at µg/g levels varied from 1 to 10%.     

Spectrophotometric determination of nickel in biological samples using 1-azobenzene-3-(3-hydroxyl-2-pyridyl)-triazene

A new sensitive and selective chromogenic reagent, 1-azobenzene-3-(3-hydroxyl-2-pyridyl)-triazene (ABHPT), was synthesized. It has been found that ABHPT reacts with nickel(II) in a borax buffer solution (pH 10.0) to form 2: 1 red complexes with the maximum absorption at 530 nm. The apparent molar absorptivity of the complex is 2.6 × 10⁵ L/(mol cm). Most metal ions can be tolerated in considerable amounts, whereby only zinc and mercury may interfere with the determination of nickel(II). Nevertheless, this can be easily eliminated by prior separation with sulfhydryl dextran gel. A new method for the spectrophotometric determination of trace nickel(II) was developed. Beer’s law is obeyed for 0–15 μg of nickel(II) in 25 mL of solution. The limit of quantification, limit of detection, and relative standard deviation are 0.74 ng/mL, 0.25 ng/mL, and 1.0%, respectively. The method has been applied to the determination of trace nickel(II) in biological samples with satisfactory results. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of gold(III) ions using modified multiwalled carbon nanotube sorbent prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry determination

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes are attractive as sorbents for SPE because they can be used for enrichment of organic compounds and metal ions at trace levels. In this study, multiwalled carbon nanotubes were oxidized with concentrated HNO3, and then the oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were modified with 5-(4'-dimethylamino-benzyliden)-rhodanine. The modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes were used as a solid sorbent for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of Au(III) ions. The sorption of Au(III) ions was quantitative in the pH range of 2.0-5.0, whereas quantitative desorption occurred instantaneously with 5.0 mL 2.0 M Na2S2O3. The eluted solution was aspirated directly into the flame for atomic absorption spectrometry. The proposed method resulted in an enrichment factor of 94. The RSD of the method was +/- 1.11% (n=10, 2.0 microg/mL) and the LOD was 0.15 ng/mL. The calibration curve for Au(III) was linear between 0.53 ng/mL and 36.0 microg/mL in the initial solution, with an R2 value of 0.9999. The sorbent capacity of the modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes was 7.3 mg Au(III)/g sorbent. The influences of the experimental parameters, including sample pH, sample flow rate, eluent volume and flow rate, sample volume, and interference of some ions on the recoveries of the Au ions, were investigated. The proposed method was applied for preconcentration and determination of Au in different samples.     

Optimization of a new resin, Amberlyst 36, as a solid-phase extractor and determination of copper(II) in drinking water and tea samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A new simple and reliable method has been developed to separate and preconcentrate trace copper ion in drinking water and tea samples for subsequent measurement by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The copper ions are adsorbed quantitatively during passage of aqueous solutions through Amberlyst 36 cation exchange resin. After the separation and preconcentration stage, the analyte was eluted with a potassium cyanide solution and determined by FAAS. Different factors including pH of sample solution, sample volume, amount of resin, flow rate of aqueous solution, volume and concentration of eluent, and matrix effects for preconcentration were examined. The analytical figures of merit for the determination of copper are as follows: analytical detection limit (3 sigma), 0.26 microg/L; precision (RSD), 3.1% for 100 microg/L; enrichment factor, 200 (using 1000 mL of sample solution and 5 mL of eluent); time of analysis, 3.5 h (for obtaining enrichment factor of 200); capacity of resin, 125 mg/g. The method was applied for copper determination by FAAS in tap water, commercial natural spring water, commercial treated drinking water, and commercial tea bag sample. The accuracy of the method is confirmed by analyzing tea leaves (GBW 07605). The results demonstrated good agreement with the certified values.     

Atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace zinc in alloys and biological samples after preconcentration with [1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol] on microcrystalline naphthalene

An atomic absorption spectrometric method for the determination of trace amounts of zinc after adsorption of its [1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol] complex on microcrystalline naphthalene has been developed. This complex is adsorbed on microcrystalline naphthalene in the pH range 3.5-7.5 from large volumes of aqueous solutions of various alloys and biological samples with a preconcentration factor of 40. After filtration, the solid mass consisting of the zinc complex and naphthalene was dissolved with 5 ml of dimethylformamide and the metal was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Zinc can alternatively be quantitatively adsorbed on [1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol]-naphthalene adsorbent packed in a column and determined similarly. About 0.5 ng of zinc can be concentrated in a column from 200 ml of aqueous sample, where its concentration is as low as 2.5 pg ml-1. The calibration curve is linear in the range 0.1-6.5 ng ml-1 in dimethylformamide solution. Eight replicate determinations of 2 ng ml-1 of zinc gave a mean absorbance of 0.145 with a relative standard deviation of 1.5%. The sensitivity for 1% absorption was 0.061 ng ml-1. Various parameters, such as the effect of pH and the interference of a number of metal ions on the determination of zinc, have been studied in detail to optimize the conditions for the determination of zinc in various standard complex materials.     

Solid phase extraction of trace amount of Cu(II) using functionalized-graphene

A novel and selective method for the fast determination of trace amounts of Cu(II) ions in water samples has been developed. The first organic-solution-processable functionalized-graphene (SPF-Graphene) hybrid material with porphyrins, porphyrin-graphene nanohybrid, 5-(4-aminophenyl)-10, 15, 20-triphenyl porphyrin and its photophysical properties including optical (TPP) and grapheme oxide molecules covalently bonded together via an amide bond (TPP-NHCO-SPFGraphene) were used as absorbent for extraction of Cu(II) ions by solid phase extraction method. The complexes were eluted with HNO₃ (2 M) 10% (vol/vol) methanol in acetone and determined the analyte by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The procedure is based on the selective formation of Cu(II) at optimum pH by elution with organic eluents and determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The method is based on complex formation on the surface of the ENVI-18 DISK? disks modified porphyrin-graphene nanohybrid, 5-(4-aminophenyl)-10,15,20-triphenyl porphyrin (TPP) and grapheme oxide molecules covalently bonded together via an amide bond (TPP-NHCO-SPFGraphene) followed by stripping of the retained species by minimum amounts of appropriate organic solvents. The elution is efficient and quantitative. The effect of potential interfering ions, pH, TPP-NHCO-SPFGraphene, amount, stripping solvent, and sample flow rate were also investigated. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the break-through volume was found to about 1000 mL providing a preconcentration factor of 600. The maximum capacity of the disks was found to be 398 ± 3 μg for Cu²⁺. The limit of detection of the proposed method is 5 ng per 1000 mL. The method was applied to the extraction and recovery of copper in different water samples.     

Determination of trace amounts of some metals in samples with high salt content by atomic absorption spectrometry after cobalt-diethyldithiocarbamate coprecipitation

A method for determination of trace amounts of Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Zn, Cd, Ni, Bi and Cr in aqueous solutions by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after coprecipitation by using a combination of sodium diethyldithiocarbamate as a chelating agent and cobalt as a carrier element was introduced. Different factors including amounts of reagents, pH of sample solution, standing time, sample volume for the precipitation and matrix effects were examined. Under selected conditions, the relative standard deviation of the combined method of sample treatment, coprecipitation and determination with flame AAS (n = 9) is generally about 3.5-6.9%; the limits of detection (3 s, n = 20) for the analytes were found to be between 4 and 64 microg 1(-1). The procedure was applied to the analysis of sea water and dialysis concentrate samples with quantitative recovery, > or =95%.