Determination of bismuth in environmental samples with Mg–W cell–electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry Original Research Article

A new concentration method of bismuth using Mg–W cell-electrodeposition has been developed. The method was combined with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) with a tungsten atomizer. The detection limit of bismuth by this method was 7.8 pg ml−1 (S/N=3). The severe interferences on the AAS signal of bismuth, caused by large amounts of Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Na, Pb and Zn, were eliminated by the Mg–W cell-electrodeposition method. The method was adapted for the determination of bismuth in environmental samples. The recovery of bismuth-spiked environmental samples was in the range 94–104%.