Slurry atomization for the determination of arsenic in baby foods using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and deuterium background correction

Abstract

A procedure for accurately determining arsenic in different types of baby foods using slurried samples is developed. Compensation of the background is carried out using a deuterium device. Suspensions prepared in a medium containing 0.1% m/v Triton X-100, 20% v/v concentrated hydrogen peroxide, 1% v/v concentrated nitric acid and 0.3% m/v nickel nitrate are directly introduced into the furnace. The calcination and atomization temperatures are 1400 and 2400 °C, respectively. Calibration is carried out by the standard additions method. The characteristic mass is 23 pg and the detection limit 22 ng g ^–1 . The reliability of the procedure is checked by comparing the results obtained with others based on microwave-oven sample digestion and by analyzing three certified reference materials. Values for the arsenic content ranged between 0.04 and 2.6 µg g ^–1 .