Determination of selenium in serum by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry with deuterium-arc background correction

Abstract

A method for the measurement of selenium in serum by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry is described. A high-intensity hollow-cathode lamp is found to give a similar performance to an electrodeless discharge lamp. A mixture of copper and magnesium nitrates is used as a matrix modifier with platform atomisation. Air is used in the ashing stage to minimise the accumulation of carbon on the platform. The interference from iron and phosphate has been studied and can be overcome by incorporating a delay of 0.7 s in the read period. Calibration was carried out by the standard additions method. The normal amount of selenium present in plasma samples from healthy young adults was found to be 103.5 ± 21.3 µg l^–1(1.31 ± 0.27 µmol l^–1).