Analysis of Pb, Cd and As in Spice Mixtures Using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

With an inherent toxicity, a tendency to accumulate in the food chain and a particularly low removal rate through excretion, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) cause harm to humans even at low concentrations. Natural food spices, such as pepper, have been reported to contain significant quantities of some heavy metals, including Pb, Cd and As. In this application note from PerkinElmer a complete method for the accurate determination of these heavy metals in various spice mixtures using the PinAAcle 900T atomic absorption spectrophotometer in the GFAAS mode is described. The results confirmed that the determination of As, Cd and Pb in spice mixtures, after acid solubilization by microwave digestion, can be performed by GFAAS without any interference.