Determination and interference studies of bismuth by tungsten trap hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry.

The determination of bismuth requires sufficiently sensitive procedures for detection at the microg L(-1) level or lower. W-coil was used for on-line trapping of volatile bismuth species using HGAAS (hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry); atom trapping using a W-coil consists of three steps. Initially BiH(3) gas is formed by hydride generation procedure. The analyte species in vapor form are transported through the W-coil trap held at 289 degrees C where trapping takes place. Following the preconcentration step, the W-coil is heated to 1348 degrees C; analyte species are released and transported to flame-heated quartz atom cell where the atomic signal is formed. In our study, interferences have been investigated in detail during Bi determination by hydride generation, both with and without trap in the same HGAAS system. Interferent/analyte (mass/mass) ratio was kept at 1, 10 and 100. Experiments were designed for carrier solutions having 1.0M HNO(3). Interferents such as Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni, Cu, As, Se, Cd, Pb, Au, Na, Mg, Ca, chloride, sulfate and phosphate were examined. The calibration plot for an 8.0 mL sampling volume was linear between 0.10 microg L(-1) and 10.0 microg L(-1) of Bi. The detection limit (3s/m) was 25 ng L(-1). The enhancement factor for the characteristic concentration (C(o)) was found to be 21 when compared with the regular system without trap, by using peak height values. The validation of the procedure was performed by the analysis of the certified water reference material and the result was found to be in good agreement with the certified values at the 95% confidence level.

Estimation of human daily boron exposure in a boron-rich area.

Although, the safe limits of human daily boron (B) exposure are not absolutely clear, there is a growing interest in B and its effects on human health. The aim of the present study was to estimate daily B exposure in 66 males in Turkey living in a B-rich area using water containing at least 2 mg/l boron, with an average age of 38.55 (se 1.66) years and an average number of years of residence in the B-rich area of 35.89 (se 1.73). Another group of males (n 57), living in the city centres of Balikesir and Ankara, were taken as controls; the average age and number of years of residence for this group were 29.44 (se 1.43) and 10.26 (se 1.83) years, respectively. As it is assumed that the B level in urine reflects daily B exposure, the amount of urinary B of both the study and control groups was analysed by using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) technique. The average daily B exposure value was calculated as 6.77 (se 0.47) mg in the study group and 1.26 (se 0.1) mg in the controls. The results of this study are expected to contribute to creating a reference value for a safe daily B exposure.