Determination of mercury in rice by MSFIA and cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry.

In the present paper the use of a MSFIA system for determination of mercury in rice by cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV AFS) is proposed. The sample digestion is performed in a microwave oven using nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The experimental conditions for vapour generation were determined using a full two-level factorial design involving the following factors: nitric acid and tin chloride concentrations and sample flow rate.

Use of constrained mixture design for optimization of method for determination of zinc and manganese in tea leaves employing slurry sampling.

A slurry suspension sampling technique has been developed for manganese and zinc determination in tea leaves by using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The proportions of liquid-phase of the slurries composed by HCl, HNO(3) and Triton X-100 solutions have been optimized applying a constrained mixture design. The optimized conditions were 200mg of sample ground in a tungsten carbide balls mill (particle size<100 microm), dilution in a liquid-phase composed by 2.

Thermospray generation directly into a flame furnace--an alternative to improve the detection power in atomic absorption spectrometry.

Recent developments and applications in the production of thermosprays directly into flame furnaces to improve the analytical sensitivity in atomic absorption spectrometry are reviewed in this manuscript. Principles, characteristics, instrumentation, and applications of this analytical technique for trace elements determination in several matrices are discussed. The use of preconcentration procedures to allow low detection limits for ultra-trace levels using TS-FF-AAS is presented and current perspectives and future trends of this technique are also discussed.