Evaluation of different permanent modifiers for the determination of arsenic, cadmium and lead in environmental samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Different permanent modifiers (W, Rh, Ir, Ru, W-Rh, W-Ru, W-Ir) thermally deposited on the integrated platform of transversely heated graphite atomizer (TGA) were employed for the determination of arsenic, cadmium and lead in soil, coal, natural waters and sediments by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). Microwave digests of solid samples and water samples were employed for obtaining the analytical characteristics of the methods with different permanent modifiers. The performance of the modifiers for the analyte determinations in the real samples depended strongly on the type of permanent modifier chosen. The W, Rh, Ir and Ru permanent modifiers were suitable for the analyte determinations in simpler matrices such as waters (recoveries of certified values 95-104%), but the analyte recoveries of certified values in soil, sediment and coal were lower than 90%. On the other hand, for the determination of arsenic, cadmium and lead, using W-Rh, W-Ru, and W-Ir pemanent modifiers presented recoveries of certified values within 95-103% for all the samples. Long-term stability curves obtained for the determination of arsenic, cadmium and lead in environmental samples with different permanent modifiers (W, Rh, Ir, Ru, W-Rh, W-Ir, W-Ru) showed that the improvement in the tube lifetime depends on the tungsten deposit onto the platform. The tungsten-noble metal permanent modifier shows a tube lifetime of 10% longer when compared with a single permanent modifier. The results for the determination of As, Cd and Pb using different permanent modifiers in the samples were in agreement with the certified reference materials, since no statistical differences were found after applying the paired t-test at the 95% confidence level.