Slurry procedures for the determination of cadmium and lead in cereal-based products using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Simple and rapid methods for the determination of cadmium and lead in biscuits, bread and cereal-based products using the slurry-ETAAS approach are discussed. Suspensions were prepared in a 20% v/v ethanol medium. Phosphate was used as a chemical modifier for lead determination. For cadmium determination both palladium and a copper plus ammonia mixture were used. In both cases platform atomization was used and calibration was performed using aqueous standards. Results for two reference materials confirmed the reliability of the procedures. Relative standard deviations were in the range of 2.5–6.5% for cadmium and 4.5–14% for lead. Detection limits were, respectively, 0.5 and 8 ng/g.