Online preconcentration system for determining ultratrace amounts of Cd in vegetal samples using thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

A system has been developed for online preconcentration and determination of Cd using thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (TS-FF-AAS). It is based on the solid-phase extraction of Cd in an Amberlite XAD-2 minicolumn loaded with 2-(2-thiazolylazo)-5-dimethylaminophenol (TAM), and the metal ion is eluted with 1 mol L−1 hydrochloridric acid, followed by its determination. The online system allows determining Cd with a detection limit of 8.0 ng L−1 and a quantification limit of 25.0 ng L−1. The precision (repeatability), calculated as the relative standard deviation (% RSD) in sample solutions containing 0.5 and 3.0 µg L−1 of Cd, was 6.1 and 4.5%, respectively. The preconcentration factor obtained was 24. The system’s accuracy was confirmed by analyzing the following certified reference materials (CRMs): Rice flour NIES 10b, Apple leaves NIST 1515 and Orchard leaves NBS 1571. This procedure was applied to the determination of Cd in cabbage and powdered guarana samples.