Effect of surfactant addition on ultrasonic leaching of trace elements from plant samples in inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

The applicability of surfactants in sample preparation of plant materials followed by analysis by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry has been examined. Reference materials (INCT-MPH-2-Mixed Polish Herbs, INCT-TL-1 black tea leaves and CTA-VTL-2 -Virginia tobacco leaves) and commercially available tea leaves were analyzed. Effects of addition surfactants (Triton X-100, didodecyldimethylammonium bromide and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) on efficiency of ultrasonic leaching of elements from the plant samples and on plasma parameters were investigated. Low concentrations of the surfactants in solutions did not affect, in practice, analytical line intensities and the nebulization process. Quantitative recovery of some elements could be obtained by ultrasonic diluted acid leaching with the aid of surfactants. However, the element recovery depended on type of surfactant, as well as element and sample material. Plasma parameters, i.e. the excitation temperatures of Ar I, Fe II and Ca II as well as the electron number density and the Mg II/Mg I intensity ratio did not vary significantly due to the surfactants in solutions.