Determination of selenium in nutritional supplements and shampoos by flow injection-hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A method for the determination of Se in pharmaceutical samples (nutritional supplements and shampoos) is proposed. The method involves two steps: (1) digestion of the samples and reduction of all forms of Se to SeIV, which is complete in only 10 min by the use of a focused microwave digestor; and (2) continuous derivatisation (hydride formation) and spectrometry detection by atomic fluorescence. The method can be applied over a wide range of concentrations (0.3–1300 ng ml−1 of Se) with good repeatability (RSD values lower than 4.6%). The method has been applied successfully to a reference material, and two different types of pharmaceuticals (namely, five different nutritional supplements—with Se present as sodium selenite and Se-methionine—and two shampoos, with selenium sulphide), in agreements with the certified and nominal values, respectively. Yields ranged between 86.5 and 104.8%, and good precision (RSD values lower than 4.2%) were obtained in all instances.