Empirical modelling of interferences in electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry

In order to study the multivariate effect of a chloride matrix on the elect rothermal atomization of some trace elements (lead, cadmium, nickel, chromi um and manganese), a chemometric approach, based on the empirical modelling and experimental design concepts, was applied. According to it, a quite general model, taking into account the main effect s of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium chlorides, their quadratic ef fects and the two-factor interactions, was considered and its coefficients estimated for each of the above cited elements. Then, to verify the validity of the models both to fit the experimental dat a and to predict the response inside the experimental domain, some statisti cal parameters were calculated and some validation experiments performed. In this paper, the employed procedure and the results are extensively descr ibed and discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.