Rapid and sensitive determination of Se and heavy metals in foods using electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with a novel transportation system

Abstract

Rapid, sensitive and simultaneous determination of trace multi-elements in various plant food samples such as grain, oilseed, vegetable and tea is always a challenge thus far. In this work, a rapid determination method for Se, Cd, As and Pb in food samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) using slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization (SS-ETV) was developed. To improve the analytical sensitivity and precision as well as eliminate the memory effect, a gas turbulator line and signal delay device (SDD) were for the first time designed for the graphite furnace (GF) ETV coupled with ICP-MS. The signal acquisition parameters of ICP-MS, ashing and vaporization conditions, and the flow rates of carrier gas and gas turbulator were investigated for Se, Cd, As and Pb in food samples. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of determination (LODs) for Se, Cd, As and Pb were 0.5 ng g−1, 0.3 ng g−1, 0.3 ng g−1 and 0.6 ng g−1, respectively; the limits of quantification (LOQs) for Se, Cd, As and Pb were 1.7 ng g−1, 1.0 ng g−1, 1.0 ng g−1 and 1.9 ng g−1, respectively; linearity (R2) in the range of 1 to 4,000 ng g−1 was >0.999 using the standard addition method. This method was used to analyze 5 CRMs including rice, tea and soybeans, and the concentrations detected by this method were within the range of the certified values. The recoveries of Se, Cd, As and Pb in plant food matrices including grain, oilseed, celery, spinach, carrot and tea samples were 86–118% compared to the microwave digestion ICP-MS method; and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 1.2–8.9% for real food sample analysis, proving a good precision and accuracy for the simultaneous determination of multi-elements. The analysis time was less than 3 min, slurry preparation time < 5 min without sample digestion process. The proposed direct slurry sampling ICP-MS method is thus suitable for rapid and sensitive determination of Se, Cd, As and Pb in food samples with advantages such as simplicity, green and safety, as well as with a promising application potential in detecting more elements to protect food safety and human health.

Atomic spectrometry update: review of advances in the analysis of clinical and biological materials, foods and beverages

“…The method was successfully applied to the determination of total Cr, following oxidation of all Cr to Cr IV in a biological tissue CRM, Nibea albiflora , as well as number of environmental CRMs. On the other hand, Lan et al 113 described a direct slurry sampling GF system for food samples, which comprised two novel features. First, a gas turbulator was used to reduce deposition of the analyte on the GF outlet and improve analyte transportation and second, a signal delay device was incorporated between the GF and ICP-MS to overcome the production of transient signals, which is the main hindrance to multi-elemental analysis using ETV-ICP-MS.…”

A dual functional turn off florescence sensor using metal–organic framework for sensitive detection of aluminum(III) in aqueous solution

“…Recognizing the paramount importance of prevention, employing reliable and precise techniques for the detection of these ions is crucial. However, many commonly used detection techniques are both expensive and challenging to implement, such as liquid chromatography [11][12][13][14][15], atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) [16][17][18], inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) [19][20][21], and so forth. However, the fluorescence technique has gained significant appeal in recent years due to its inherent advantages, including high sensitivity, ease of operation, cost-effectiveness, and rapid detection times [22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”