Detection of Zinc and Lead in Wine by Potentiometric Stripping on Novel Dental Amalgam Electrodes

Abstract

A simple method for detection of zinc and lead in wine by use of potentiometric stripping analyses (PSA) on the dental amalgam electrode is introduced and demonstrated for 10 different wines, both red and white. The combination of PSA and the novel nontoxic electrode offers a fast and easy‐to‐use technique without matrix effects seen in, e.g., voltammetry. Concentrations of zinc in the range of approximately 2.1 × 10−6 M to 11.7 × 10−6 M (3.5% std. dev.) and lead in the range of 9.7 × 10−8 M to 2.4 × 10−7 M (3.5% std. dev.) were found in the actual wine samples. PSA measurements were verified against atomic adsorption spectroscopy analyses (AAS), and a good correlation factor was found (r 2 = 0.96). A simple speciation study was performed by measuring the amount of zinc and lead before and after the addition of acid, giving an approximate ratio between free and total amount of the metals. Estimated detection limits for zinc and lead were calculated to, respectively, 3.0 × 10−7 M and 1.5 × 10−8 M for 120 sec. of plating time.