Collaborative Study of a Method for the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric and Polarographic Determination of Cadmium in Food

Abstract

Abstract The method studied involves acid digestion, dithizone extraction, and determination by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and polarography. This study consisted of 2 phases, with 10 laboratories participating in Phase I and 15 laboratories in Phase II. The 12 commodities studied (lettuce, potatoes, orange juice, shredded wheat, milk, sugar, eggs, fish, frankfurters, rice, beans, and oysters) were spiked at 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 ppm cadmium. Only 3 collaborators submitted polarographic results. There were no statistically demonstrable differences for the atomic absorption method between spiking levels, commodities, or laboratories. Coefficients of variation were acceptable. The atomic absorption spectrophotometric method for determining cadmium has been adopted as official first action.