APPLICATION OF AN ETV-ICP SYSTEM FOR THE DETERMINATION OF ELEMENTS INHUMAN HAIR

When determining element contents in hair samples without sample diges tion it is necessary to analyze large sample volumes in order to minim ize problems of inhomogeneity of biological sample materials. Therefor e an electrothermal vaporization system (ETV) is used for solid sample introduction into an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) for the determi nation of matrix and trace elements in hair. This paper concentrates o n the instrumental aspects without time consuming sample preparation. The results obtained for optimization tests, ETV operating parameters and ICP operating parameters, are shown and discussed. Standard additi ons are used for calibration for the determination of Zn, Mg, and Mn i n human hair. Studies including reproducibility and detection limits f or chosen elements have been carried out on certified reference materi als (CRMs). The determination of reproducibility (relative standard de viation (RSD) of n = 10) and detection limits (DLs) of Zn (RSD < 8.5%, DL < 0.8 mu g g(-1)), Mn (RSD < 14.1%, DL < 0.3 mu g g(-1)), and Mg ( RSD < 7.4%, DL < 6.6 mu g g(-1)) are satisfactory. The concentration v alues found show good agreement with the corresponding certified value s. Further sample preparation steps, including hair sampling, washing procedure and homogenization for hair, relating to measurements of rea l hair samples are described.