Trace
levels of Hg, As, Sb, and Bi in coastal seawater have been
simultaneously detected by a laboratory-built multichannel chemical
vapor generation coupled to an atomic fluorescence spectrometer. The
system was configured with a built-in electrochemical H2 generator as the fuel supplier to replace chemical H2 produced by the oxidation of potassium borohydride under acidic
conditions in traditional instruments. The electrochemical H2 generator not only isolated the atomization process from the chemical
vapor injection process but also improved the stability of atomization,
excitation, and fluorescence emission in the hydrogen flame, making
it easier to optimize conditions for CVG while introducing evaporating
multielement vapors. Calibrations were obtained using a mixed standard
solution of Hg(II), As(III), Sb(III), and Bi(III). The addition of
KBr to a 3% (v/v) HCl solution was
selected as the preservative to ensure the stability of 0.10 μg/L
Hg(II) in a multielement standard solution for at least 15 days while
also preserving μg/L levels of As(III), Sb(III), and Bi(III)
stable. The method detection limits (LOD, 3σ) were 0.001, 0.015,
0.010, and 0.005 μg/L for Hg, As, Sb, and Bi, respectively.
The relative standard deviations (RSD, n = 7) of
the standard spiked seawater samples were 3.2% (0.020 μg/L Hg),
1.2% (0.50 μg/L As), 1.0% (0.50 μg/L Sb), and 3.5% (0.050
μg/L Bi), respectively. The recoveries of seawater samples spiked
with different salinities were in the range of 84.5%(Sb)–114%(Hg).
The system has been successfully applied to the simultaneous analysis
of the four elements in the seawater samples collected from Xiamen
Bay, Southeast China.