Total arsenic analysis in Californian wines with hydride generation – microwave plasma – atomic emission spectroscopy (HG-MP-AES)

Abstract

The total arsenic concentrations of forty Californian wine samples were analyzed using a novel hydride generation-microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (HG-MP-AES). Prior to analysis, various arsenic species were reduced with potassium iodide, and detected as gaseous arsenic trihydride. The method detection limit was determined to be 0.38 μg L⁻¹. Total arsenic levels of the different tested wine styles (white, rose, red, Port, sparkling) ranged from below the detection limit to 43.8 μg L⁻¹. The developed method provides quick and reliable quantitation of total arsenic content for a variety of wine styles down to levels below the EPA drinking water limit (10 μg L⁻¹). This is the first report of HG-MP-AES, utilizing the Multimode Sample Introduction System (MSIS), for the determination of total arsenic.