Determination of nutrients in sugarcane juice using slurry sampling and detection by ICP OES.

The fractional factorial and Doehlert designs for optimization of a slurry sampling procedure to determine of nutrients in sugarcane juice by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) were applied. External calibration curves were used for direct analysis of the slurry. This procedure allowed determination of Ca, Cu, Fe, K and Mg with limits of detection (LoD) obtained of 2.0, 0.04, 0.2, 1.0 and 1.5 mg L-1, respectively. The precision was expressed as relative standard deviation (%RSD), being better than 1.4% (n = 3). Accuracy was confirmed by comparison with sample digestion method. The results for analysis of fourteen sugarcane juices samples demonstrated that the nutrients Ca, Cu, Fe, K and Mg have average contents of 108, 0.506, 6.40, 470 and 114 mg L-1, respectively. The proposed analytical method is a good alternative for simultaneous determination of nutrients in sugarcane juice using introduction of slurries and detection by ICP OES.

Characterisation and source identification of the total airborne particulate matter collected in an urban area of Aracaju, Northeast, Brazil.

In this work, studies using samples collected in an urban area of Aracaju city, Sergipe State, Northeast, Brazil revealed that soil dust in suspension was the main source of total airborne particulate matter (TAPM), followed by vehicular pollution. The concentration profiles for Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, V and Ti were established for the collected TAPM samples. The concentrations of SO2 and smoke were also measured all along the 42 sampling days. Through multivariate data analysis of the results a correlation between Fe, Mn, Ni and Ti in the mineral composition of the particles was established, indicating soil dust in suspension as the main source of TAPM. The concentrations of Cu and smoke were found to be related to vehicular traffic, and the second largest source of TAPM. Enrichment factors (EF) were calculated for the studied elements, and only Cu was found to be enriched. The concentrations of the elements in TAPM were evaluated using the geoaccumulation index (Igeo), and Fe, Mn, Ni, V and Ti were found to derive from natural sources, in TAPM. However, approximately 55% of the samples did not presented Cu contamination (Igeo≤0), and the remaining 45% presented Cu concentrations levels that indicated between low to moderate (0

Determination of Zn in Dry Feeds for Cats and Dogs by Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry.

This work describes an analytical method for Zn determination in dry feeds for cats and dogs by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). Samples of dry feed were powdered and prepared in the form of pellets for direct analysis by EDXRF. The LOQ (10σ) was 0.4 mg/kg. The samples were also analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) as an independent comparative method. Application of a paired t-test showed no significant differences between Zn concentrations obtained by EDXRF and ICP-OES (at a 95% confidence level). Analysis of variance was also applied to the results and revealed no significant differences between the two techniques (at a 95% confidence level). The precision, expressed as the RSD (n = 3), was RSD < 4.55%. This analytical method provides a simple, rapid, accurate, and precise determination of Zn in dry feeds for cats and dogs by EDXRF as direct, solid-sample analysis.