Determination of arsenic, cadmium and lead in porcine and bovine kidneys by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.

This paper describes an ETAAS method to quantify residues of arsenic, cadmium and lead in porcine and bovine kidneys. The results of a survey conducted during 1993 are tabulated. Analysis was performed by ETAAS with a stabilized-temperature platform furnace. The determinations were performed in the linear ranges 0.5-150, 0.04-2.0 and 1.1-75 micrograms l-1 for As, Cd and Pb, respectively, in the acid digests which were obtained under controlled conditions of temperature in a tetrafluoroethylene apparatus after appropriate dilution and addition of a suitable chemical modifier. Extensive quality assurance of the methods was performed by the standard additions method and by comparison with a certified reference material. The precision was better than 9.9, 8.5 and 9.2% for As, Cd and Pb, respectively. Low relative standard deviations of 7.4, 7.0, and 2.8% for As, Cd and Pb, respectively, were obtained by comparing the levels found in the kidney reference material and the certified values, showing this method to be satisfactory and suitable for routine analysis. The mean levels of As, Cd and Pb in porcine kidney were 2.11 (1.11-5.49), 0.81 (0.02-4.22) and 0.18 (0.02-0.42) microgram g-1 respectively. Those in the adult bovine kidney were 1.77 (0.42-3.42), 1.26 (0.01-6.16) and 0.73 (0.19-2.55) microgram g-1, respectively, and in the young bovine kidney they were 1.33 (0.61-2.56), 0.49 (0.15-1.82) and 0.20 (0.12-0.29) microgram g-1.