Determination of Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Ni and Zn in diets: development of a method.

A method useful for the determination of cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel and zinc in diets is described. Organic matter is destroyed applying a wet procedure, and element content is measured by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) in the case of copper, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc, and by graphite furnace (GF-AAS) in the case of cadmium, cobalt and lead. The matrix interference study is carried out. Values found for linearity, detection and quantitation limits as well as accuracy show that the described method is useful to determine the elements taken into account at usual levels in diets.