SLURRY PROCEDURES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF CADMIUM AND LEAD IN CEREAL-BASED PRODUCTS USING ELECTROTHERMAL ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

Simple and rapid methods for the determination of cadmium and lead in biscuits, bread and cereal-based products using the slurry-ETAAS appro ach are discussed. Suspensions were prepared in a 20% v/v ethanol medi um. Phosphate was used as a chemical modifier for lead determination. For cadmium determination both palladium and a copper plus ammonia mix ture were used. In both cases platform atomization was used and calibr ation was performed using aqueous standards. Results for two reference materials confirmed the reliability of the procedures. Relative stand ard deviations were in the range of 2.5-6.5% for cadmium and 4.5-14% f or lead. Detection limits were, respectively, 0.5 and 8 ng/g.