Employment of Ruthenium as Permanent Modifier for the Determination of Copper in Serum Samples by Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Abstract

In the present study, the determination of copper in human serum by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry was investigated with susceptible substances to act as chemical modifiers. The optimization of the method involved studies of pyrolysis and atomization temperature curves in the diluted human serum. Ruthenium was the best modifier. With this modifier, recoveries of spiked serum samples on different days ranged from 92% to 105% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 10% and a tube lifetime higher than 2000 cycles.