Pasias IN, Tauhomaidis NS, Bakeas EB, Piperaki EA. Application of zirconium-iridium permanent modifier for the simultaneous determination of lead, cadmium, arsenic, and nickel in atmospheric particulate matter by multi-element electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2013;
185:6867-6879. [PMID:
23329196 DOI:
10.1007/s10661-013-3071-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2012] [Accepted: 01/02/2013] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
A novel and robust method for the simultaneous determination of lead, cadmium, arsenic, and nickel in atmospheric particulate matter by multi-element electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry was developed, using zirconium-iridium coating as permanent modifier (140 μg Zr and 4 μg Ir). After 300 atomization cycles, it was necessary to add 2 μg of Ir. Due to the varying concentrations of Pb in atmospheric particulate matter, lead was monitored at two wavelengths, at the less sensitive line of 261.4 nm for high concentration samples (>20 μg L(-1)) or at 283.3 nm for the low concentration samples. Matrix-matched calibration had to be performed for quantitative recoveries (96-102 %). Following this approach, the four elements were determined in atmospheric particulate matter samples from an industrial area near the city of Athens in two different time periods (cold-warm) with limits of detection of 5.5 ng m(-3) for Pb at 261.4 nm and 0.29 ng m(-3) at 283.3 nm, 0.019 ng m(-3) for Cd, 0.14 ng m(-3) for As, and 0.22 ng m(-3) for Ni. Lead, Cd, and As levels were very low, whereas Ni content was at comparable levels with other areas worldwide.
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