DETERMINATION OF INORGANIC ARSENIC IN SEAFOOD PRODUCTS BY MICROWAVE-ASSISTED DISTILLATION AND ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

A precise and accurate procedure is proposed for the determination of inorganic As in seafood products by employing microwave-assisted distillation and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The effect of the amount of HCl, the prior reduction of As(V) to As(III) and the different parameters that control the distillation of AsCl3 were studied. Organoarsenic compounds are not decomposed by the microwave-assisted distillation procedure. The inorganic As was determined by hydride generation AAS. The methodology developed has a detection limit of 0.068 mug g-1. (dry mass) or 0.023 mug g-1 (wet mass) of mussel product, and a relative standard deviation of 9%. The percentage recovery for As(III) was 97 +/- 3% and for As(V), 100 +/- 3%. The proposed procedure has been applied to the analysis of real samples of seafood products, in which the total As was also determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.