Influence of EDTA, carboxylic acids, amino- and hydroxocarboxylic acids and monosaccharides on the generation of arsines in hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

AbstractThe influence of EDTA, carboxylic acids, amino-and hydroxocarboxylic acids, monosaccharides and humic substances on the generation of arsines in hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS) was investigated. EDTA (0.02 mol L−1), ascorbic acid (0.02 mol L−1) and glucose or fructose (0.2 mol L−1) are useful additives for levelling sensitivities for As(III), monomethylarsonate (MMA) and dimethylarsinate (DMA). The presence of glycine, malonic, tartaric acids, BICIN and soil humin extracts leads to differences in analytical signal response between these arsenic species. An analytical application to the determination of the sum of As(III), monomethylarsonate (MMA) and dimethylarsinate (DMA) as well as the sum of toxicologically relevant hydride forming arsenic fraction As(III) + As(V) + MMA + DMA in EDTA soil/sediment extracts using continuous flow HGAAS was demonstrated. The limit of detection was 0.2 mg kg−1 As. Within-day and between-day precision were in the range 3–7% and 4–10%, respectively, for arsenic contents of 0.7–25 mg kg−1, with recoveries 95–103%.