Direct Determination of Cadmium, Lead, and Zinc in Mussels by Two-Stage Probe Atomization (TPA) Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GFAAS)

Seafood consumption may induce health risks due to its contamination by pollutants. In this study, the two-stage probe atomization technique (TPA) was combined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) to develop a novel procedure for determining Cd, Pb and Zn in mussels collected in the Sea of Japan (Russia). The application of TPA eliminated organic matrix interferences during GFAAS determination of heavy metals and allowed significant reduction of the sample pretreatment processes. The procedure involved the formation of a suspension of treated lyophilized mussels that were inserted into graphite furnace. The limits of detection using the optimized conditions were 0.8, 10, and 0.4 ng/g for Cd, Pb, and Zn, respectively. Inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was employed to characterize the accuracy of the developed technique. The concentrations of heavy metals in Crenomytilus Grayanus mussel tissues from Peter the Great bay did not exceed 8.2, 31 and 475 mu g/g for Cd, Pb, and Zn and are considered to have no negative effects upon human health.