Study of chemical and spectral interferences in the simultaneous determination of As, Bi, Sb, Se and Sn by hydride generation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry Original Research Article

Chemical and spectral interferences from Cd(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Ni(II) in the simultaneous determination of As, Bi, Sb, Se and Sn by continuous flow hydride generation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry were investigated. The effect of the interfering metal concentration, in the range from 10 to 1000 μg ml−1, on the analyte intensity signals was evaluated. Various reagents used for elimination of chemical interferences, i.e. EDTA, thiourea, KCN and KI were employed and their effectiveness in the reduction of chemical interferences in the determination of five hydride-forming elements was compared and discussed. In addition, the precipitation of Cd, Co, Cu and Ni hydroxides using NaOH was used and found to be an efficient method of complete elimination of the transition metal interferences in the As and Se determination. Spectral interferences of analyte lines with lines of matrix metals (As–Cd and Sb–Co) transported into the plasma during hydride generation in the system with gas–liquid phase separation were observed for the first time and noticed to be significant.