Determination of cadmium and lead in urine by derivative flame atomic absorption spectrometry using the atom trapping technique

A method is described for the determinations of cadmium and lead in urine by derivative flame atomic absorption spectrometry with a modified water-cooled stainless steel atom trapping tube. The effects of the trap position, the flame conditions, the coolant flow rates, and the collection time were studied. With a 1 min collection time, the characteristic concentrations (derivative absorbance of 0.0044) for cadmium and lead were 0.028 and 1.4 mu g L-1, the detection limits (3 sigma) were 0.02 and 0.27 mu g L-1, respectively. The detection limits and sensitivities of the proposed method were 2 and 3 orders of magnitude higher for 1-3 min collection time than those of conventional flame atomic absorption spectrometry for cadmium and lead, respectively. Urine samples from a small population of normal individuals have been analyzed for cadmium and lead by the proposed method. Satisfactory recoveries of 91-110% and 91-106%, for Cd and Pb were obtained with these urine samples. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.