DETERMINATION OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC LEAD COMPOUNDS IN URBAN AIR BY ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY WITH ELECTRO-THERMAL ATOMIZATION

A method for the simultaneous determination of inorganic and organic lead compounds in air is described, together with some results from its application at different sampling sites. Air-borne particulate lead is collected on a cellulose filter. Organic lead vapours are trapped in an iodine monochloride solution, placed behind the filter. A fraction of the cellulose filter is subjected to low-temperature ashing, after which the lead content in the residue is measured by electrothermal atomic-absorption spectrometry. The organolead material absorbed in the iodine monochloride solution, is determined by solvent extraction and electrothermal atomic-absorption spectrometry. For a 6-h sampling period, detection limits of the order of 10 ng m-3 for inorganic and 8 ng m-3 for organic lead materials may be obtained. © 1979.