Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (flame, electrothermal, vapour generation) in Environmental, Biological and Food Analysis

Abstract

Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) is one of the most valuable and well established techniques in the vast application area of biological and environmental analysis. Flame AAS is robust, selective and straightforward yet lacks sensitivity at analyte concentrations below 0.1–10 µg/g in analyses of liquid and solid samples, respectively. Two modern AAS techniques with better detection power (10–1,000–fold) as well as their combinations with each other and with other separations are applied in the lower concentration range: electro thermal AAS (ETAAS) or graphite furnace AAS (GFAAS) and vapour generation AAS (VGAAS), viz. hydride generation AAS (HGAAS) and cold vapour tech nique (CVAAS). Application scope and performance characteristics of these techniques are presented and some recent research and development trends are given. Illustrations by examples from the author’s own research on trace element determinations (As, Bi, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, etc.) in environmental and biological materials (water, soil, sediment, terrestrial and aquatic tissues, urine, etc.) by direct and hyphenated VG techniques, including online treatments by microwave (MW) and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation (HG–ETAAS, FI–MW– HGAAS, FI–MW–CVAAS, HPLC–UV–HGAAS) are given. An emphasis is placed on metrological and quality control issues. Review of compiled reference values on trace element concentrations in biological and environmental samples from author’s own research is presented.