Living Bacterial Cells Microextraction as a Tool for Speciation of Organoseleno Compounds

Abstract

A reliable method combining a time-controlled solid phase microextraction using living bacterial cells and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed for the speciation of organoseleno compounds. The extraction medium consists of a Pseudomonas putida strain cultivated in a culture medium based on glucose contaminated with an organoseleno compound. The adsorption process study was derived in order to develop an analytical procedure for determining several organoseleno compounds (selenomethionine, selenourea, and selenocystamine) in samples containing other selenium species. The best detection limits for the organoseleno compounds studied are 0.1–1.5 ng ml^–1. The relative standard deviations of the retention and determination procedure are 1.9–5.6%.