TRACE-ELEMENT DETERMINATION IN CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS AND SOILS BY ULTRASONIC SLURRY SAMPLING AND ZEEMAN GRAPHITE-FURNACE ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

Ultrasonic suspension of powder samples in combination with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) has been proven to be a promising method for the analysis of the total content of As,Cd,Cr,Cu,Ni and Pb in sediments and soils. The samples have been ground to a grain size < 63 mu m. The calibration has been carried out with aqueous solutions of the analytes, with the exception of Cr which requires a calibration with suspensions of a suitable reference sample. The reproducibility has been slightly lower than for measurements obtained with solutions. Advantages are the considerable simplification of the sample preparation and the reduction of blank values. Comparative analyses have shown a good agreement of the results with those obtained by other methods.