Determination of chromium in urine by probe electrothermal atomisation atomic emission spectrometry using a low-resolution monochromator

Abstract

A low-resolution monochromator incorporating wavelength modulation background correction has been used to determine chromium in urine by ETA-AES. Chromium atomic emission was generated in a Perkin-Elmer HGA-72 graphite furnace equipped with a totally pyrolytic graphite tube and modified for probe atomisation. No significant spectral or chemical interferences from the urine matrix were encountered and samples were analysed against aqueous standards either directly or after 1 + 1 dilution with water. The accuracy of the procedure was confirmed by comparative analysis with two different ETA-AAS methods. The ETA-AES technique was used to measure chromium in urine down to a level of 0.3–0.5 ng ml^–1. It is predicted that a lower detection limit can be achieved by optimisation of the spectrometer optical system.