The design and development of a multichannel atomic absorption spectrometer for the simultaneous determination of trace metals in hair

Abstract

A multichannel atomic absorption spectrometer capable of analysing up to nine elements simultaneously in human hair has been designed. Light from an array of hollow-cathode lamps is passed through an electrically heated graphite tube into a direct reading spectrometer. The photomultiplier output is fed into a novel transient signalprocessing device which separates the absorption pulse from the continuous background and increases linear range and sensitivity. Solutions containing Ni, Co, Si, Mn, Al, Cu, Ag, Cr and Fe in nanogram and sub-nanogram amounts can be determined with reasonable precision.