The Determination of Arsenic in Environmental Samples by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry with an in situ Nebulizer/Hydride Generator

Abstract

A simple and very inexpensive in situ nebulizer/hydride generator was used with ICP-AES for the determination of arsenic in environmental samples. The applications of hydride generation ICP-AES eliminated the spectral interference and sensitivity problem of arsenic determination encountered when conventional pneumatic nebulization was used for sample introduction. The key features of our study which distinguish it from previous works in this field are: (1) it greatly reduces the amount of time needed for sample preparation; (2) only a minimal and inexpensive modification of existing standard equipment is required; and (3) only a low-/medium-power plasma is required, in contrast to the high-power plasma required with other methods. This method has a detection limit of 1 ng/mL of the As 193.759-nm line and 2 ng/mL of the As 228.812-nm line, respectively. The linear calibration range is over 3 orders of magnitude, starting from the detection limit.