Determination of As, Se and Hg in Waters by Hydride Generation/Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Contamination of water supplies with arsenic (As), selenium (Se), and mercury (Hg) is a major concern in agriculture and it is therefore important to have precise analytical techniques for measuring these compounds. This application note from PerkinElmer presents an accurate and reliable procedure for the determination of As, Se and Hg in waters. Prior to analysis by atomic absorption spectroscopy, hydride generation was used to separate the hydride forming metals, Se and As, from the matrices, and the cold vapor technique was used for the separation of Hg from the matrices. The separation of the elements from the matrix allows for high efficiency of analyte introduction into the atomic absorption spectrophotometer.