OPTIMIZATION OF THE ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE FOR CR, CU, NI, AND PB DETERMINATION BY ICP-AES IN MUNICIPAL LANDFILL LEACHATES

An ICP-AES-based procedure to determine Cr, Cu, Ni, and Pb in landfill leachates was optimized. Comparison of the performance of two differe nt concentric nebulizers (Meinhard and Zr-cone Jobin-Yvon) was conside red both with and without pretreatment of the samples. Moreover, calib ration by standards of different composition was used and compared to the standard addition procedure. The matrix effect depended on the dif ferent experimental conditions. By using the Zr-cone Jobin-Yvon nebuli zation system and calibrating with standard solutions of saline conten ts similar to those of the leachate the matrix effect was satisfactori ly compensated. Deviations from the reference concentration values wer e, in this case, less than 5% for all the metals considered. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.