[Use of alternating-current polarography for determining the lead and cadmium content of wheat grain].

The authors studied the possibility of determining lead and cadmium in wheat grain by polarography in the presence of O. 1 N hydrochloric acid. The determination of lead and cadmium in the grain can be performed with the use of the addition method and the calibrating curve. However, during cadmium determination, the calibrating curve provides more reproducible results. Altogether 100 samples of wheat grown in different regions of the European part of the USSR were analyzed by polarography. The data obtained indicate that the content of lead and cadmium in wheat grain does not depend on the region where that culture was grown. It amounts to 0-0.2 micrograms/g for lead and 0-0.04 micrograms/g for cadmium for the majority of samples. If the content of these elements is higher than the amounts indicated, there is every reason to suggest that in this region there are sources of grain contamination with lead and cadmium.