Simultaneous Multielement Analysis of Total Diet Samples by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the application of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) to the direct, multielement analysis of total diet samples for major, minor and trace elements. Sodium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium were first determined as major matrix elements in the ashed total diet sample using a polychromator with relatively high dispersion. These elements were determined within a relative error of 3 per cent. After performing the matrix matching between the sample and standard solutions with respect to acidity and the amount of major elements, thirteen minor and trace elements, i.e., iron, zinc, manganese, aluminium, strontium, copper, barium, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, cadmium, cobalt and yttrium, were measured. Of these, iron, zinc, manganese, aluminium, strontium, copper and barium were determined with a relative error of ca. 5 per cents, and chromium, nickel, molybdenum, cadmium and cobalt within 20 per cents. Recovery of the added standard was 100±5% for all the elements except cobalt and molybdenum.