Study of the versatility of a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric method for the determination of cadmium in the environmental field.
Cadmium is a representative example of trace elements that are insidious and widespread health hazards. In contemporary environmental analysis, there is a clear trend toward its determination over a wide range of concentrations in complex matrixes. This paper describes a versatile method for the determination of Cd at various levels (0.1-500 microg/g) in several sample types, such as soils, sediments, coals, ashes, sewage sludges, animal tissues, and plants, by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction. The effect of the individual presence of about 50 elements, with an interference/analyte concentration ratio of up to 10(5), was tested; recoveries of Cd ranged from 93 to 106%. The influence of different media, such as HNO3, HCI, HF, H2SO4, HClO4, acetic acid, hydroxylammonium chloride, and ammonium acetate, in several concentrations, was also tested. From these studies it can be concluded that the analytical procedure is scarcely matrix dependent, and the results obtained for a wide diversity of reference materials are in good agreement with the certified values.
Rucandio
M Isabel
MI
Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Departamento de Impacto Ambiental de la Energía, Madrid, Spain. isabel.rucandio@ciemat.es
Petit-Domínguez
M Dolores
MD
D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis*; D004602:Elements; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D012015:Reference Standards; D012995:Solubility; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
D004602:Elements; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D002104:Cadmium