RAPID DECOMPOSITION PROCESS FOR LARGE SAMPLES OF BIOLOGICAL-MATERIALS AND ITS USE IN THE DETERMINATION OF TRACE QUANTITIES OF HEAVY-METALS

A 20 g sample of biological material with a water content of 70-80% was pre-dried in a closed pressure vessel and thereafter burnt in oxygen. All traces of metallic poisons, which are present in the starting sample, find their way quantitatively into a solution consisting of the condensates from drying and combustion. The time required for decomposition is less than 30 min. Mercury, cadmium, lead and arsenic in amounts ranging from 50-250 ppb resp. in amounts of 1-5 μg can be detected with a recovery rate of 80-90% © 1979 Springer-Verlag.