Arsenic determination in environmental, biological and food samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Methodology developed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the determination of total arsenic in soil, house dust, and children's daily diet and faecal samples is described. Microwave oven dissolution, high temperature, pressure vapour phase acid digestion, and dry ashing with conventional thermal and microwave furnace heating and Mg(NO₃)₂ ashing aid are compared for sample preparation. Arsenic recovery from reference materials and spiked samples is between 94.8 and 109%. The ICP-MS Elan 5000a As detection limits (3s_b) were 2.0 ng g^–1 in freeze-dried human faeces prepared by closed-vessel, microwave-heated digestion and 1.1 ng g^–1 in freeze-dried children's diets prepared by furnace ashing with an ashing aid.