Multielemental Determination of As, Bi, Ge, Sb, and Sn in Agricultural Samples Using Hydride Generation Coupled to Microwave-Induced Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

A microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometer with N-based plasma was combined with a multimode sample introduction system (MSIS) for hydride generation (HG) and multielemental determination of As, Bi, Ge, Sb, and Sn in samples of forage, bovine liver, powdered milk, agricultural gypsum, rice, and mineral fertilizer, using a single condition of prereduction and reduction. The accuracy of the developed analytical method was evaluated using certified reference materials of water and mineral fertilizer, and recoveries ranged from 95 to 106%. Addition and recovery experiments were carried out, and the recoveries varied from 85 to 117% for all samples evaluated. The limits of detection for As, Bi, Ge, Sb, and Sn were 0.46, 0.09, 0.19, 0.46, and 5.2 μg/L, respectively, for liquid samples, and 0.18, 0.04, 0.08, 0.19, and 2.1 mg/kg, respectively, for solid samples. The method proposed offers a simple, fast, multielemental, and robust alternative for successful determination of all five analytes in agricultural samples with low operational cost without compromising analytical performance.

On a single method for determining As and Hg in dietary supplements by CVG-MIP OES: optimization of the multimode sample introduction system

“…Comparing the limits of detection (LODs) achieved for As and Hg in this work with previous reports in the literature (Table S3, ESI†), the value for As (0.3 μg L −1 ) was better than that reported by Machado et al 35 (0.46 μg L −1 ), Gallego Ríos et al 34 (2.0 μg L −1 ), and Zubricheva et al 33 (11 μg L −1 ). The LOD obtained for Hg (0.9 μg L −1 ) was better than 1.3 and 2.0 μg L −1 reported by Zubricheva et al 33 and Zhao et al , 37 but higher than 0.2 and 0.3 μg L −1 by Gallego Ríos et al 34 and Lima et al , 36 respectively.…”

“…Nowadays, coupling with most instruments has become easier with the use of a multimode sample introduction system (MSIS), allowing the simultaneous determination of volatile species-forming elements by CVG, as well as the possibility of elemental determination by conventional nebulization. 28 This coupling has been used for the simultaneous determination of As and Hg in pharmaceutical 33 and fish 34 samples, and also for the determination of As in agricultural samples, 35 and Hg in inorganic fertilizers 36 and in leather and fur. 37 However, the coupling of CVG-MIP OES using MSIS has not been demonstrated to date for the simultaneous determination of As and Hg in dietary supplements.…”

Is MIP-OES a suitable alternative to ICP-OES for trace element analysis?

“…On the other hand, Tanabe et al 63 employed the MSIS apparatus with MIP-OES to determine As in wines by hydride generation (HG-MIP-OES), which provided a LOD of 0.38 μg L −1 . Machado et al 64 used the same system for multi-element determination of As, Bi, Ge, Sb, and Sn in samples of forage, bovine liver, powdered milk, agricultural gypsum, rice, and mineral fertilizer. Recoveries varied from 85% to 117% for all samples, and low LODs were obtained for all elements.…”

Extraction of selected elements from commercial fertilizers

“…Agricultural productivity can be enhanced using fertilizers because they contain nutrients, but they can also have toxic elements responsible for soil contamination (Li et al, 2013;Lima et al, 2015;Machado et al, 2017;Viso and Zachariadis, 2018). In general, fertilizers can be divided into natural and synthetic (inorganic, e.g., NPK, and organic, e.g., urea).…”