Detection of Harmful Metal Elements in Rice Using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Abstract

Transportation of toxic elements from air, water and soil is the main reason for agriculture crops pollution. Therefore, fast detection of heavy metals is very important for ensuring the quality and safety of crops. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), coupled with univariate and multivariate analysis, was applied for quantitative analysis of Cr, Pb, Cu and Cd in twelve kinds of rice available in local markets. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the samples were achieved by using the locally developed LIBS set up equipped with Q-switched Nd: YAG laser and optical spectrum analyzer. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) was used not only to validate the analysis results but also to establish the essential calibration curves. Distribution pattern of detected metals and possible contamination sources were analyzed by radar plot and multivariate statistics including PCA. In this study, harmful metals have been analyzed in all samples. The average content for harmful metals were 0.040 mg/kg for chromium (VI), 0.051 mg/kg for lead, and 0.041 mg/kg for copper and 0.043 mg/kg for cadmium.

Characteristics of Temporal and Spatial evolution of laser-induced plasma under different laser repetition rate

“…Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an in situ spectral analysis technology that can qualitatively or quantitatively determine the elemental composition of gases, liquids, and solids based on emissions from laserinduced plasma. Owing to its advantages of simple sample preparation, real-time multi-elemental diagnosis, and rapid and remote application, LIBS has been widely applied in many fields, including environmental monitoring [1][2][3], industrial analysis [4][5][6], food safety [7][8][9], biomedicine [10,11], archaeology [12], and space exploration [13].…”

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Determination of Toxic Metals in Fertilizers: emphasis on Lead

“…Recently, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has become a common tool for direct solid sample analysis in various fields [9,10]. Potential applications of LIBS for the fertilizer analysis have motivated many efforts to enhance new quantitative and qualitative analytical methods capable of obtaining fast measurements with no need for sample preparation [11,12]. In this sense, Andrade et al [13] determined the major (Ca and Mg) elements, the minor (B, Cu, Mn, Na, and Zn) elements as well as the trace elements(Cd, Cr and Pb) in solid fertilizer samples using LIBS method and the reference values obtained with ICP.Farooq et al [14] applied LIBS technique for the elemental analysis of fertilizer samples; they detected a very high quantity of hazardous health elements like Cd, Ni, and Pb.…”