Appraisal of selected techniques for the determination of lead and cadmium in waters by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

A number of proposed procedures for reducing matrix interference effects in the determination of lead and cadmium in fresh waters have been assessed. Each procedure, set up with the same furnace and spectrometer, was applied to a range of river and drinking waters spiked with the two metals and the recoveries were compared.

The use of lanthanum additions and of the stabilised temperature platform furnace method both appear to be capable of markedly reducing interference effects. The study also showed that the accurate recording of peak profiles and the comparison of such profiles for samples and standards yield valuable information for the study of interference effects.