Determination of antimony in natural waters by atomic absorption spectrometry with flow-injection hydride generation

The paper presents a design and construction of a simple set for determinat ion of antimony and other hydride forming elements working on the has is of the method of injection flaw analysis with hydrides generation. The constr uction of the set is based on a commercially available flow system and bist able injection valve. The effect of position position of the injection valv e with respect to the peristaltic pump and the kind of measurements (the pe ak area or the peak height), was analysed. The limits of determination were established as 2.1-0.06 ng ml(-1) for different Volumes of the injection l oops, 50-850 mul, and the precision was 10.0-0.8%, respectively. The lowest limits of determination were obtained for the valve mounted behind the per istaltic pump (at the pumping side of the pump) and for measurements of the peak height. When the Valve was mounted in front of the peristaltic pump, the lowest limit of determination was obtained for measurements of the area under the peak. Preliminary results illustrating the performance of the se t were obtained, determining the level of antimony in samples of natural wa ters (river, lake and underground waters) in the range from 0.20 ng ml(-1) to 0.70 ng ml(-1).