Analytical capability of a medium power capacitively coupled plasma for the multielemental determination in multimineral/multivitamin preparations by atomic emission spectrometry

A method for multielemental (Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn) determination in multimineral/multivitamins by atomic emission spectrometry in a medium power radiofrequency capacitively coupled plasma (275 W) and low Ar consumption (0.4 L min−1) is proposed. Determinations were performed on commercially available tablets and a standard reference material after acidic high-pressure microwave assisted digestion and using the standard additions procedure. The detection limits (mg g−1) were in the range 0.003 (Na)–1.5 (P) and were not depreciated by the non-spectral interference of mineral matrices of K, Ca, Mg and Na excepting Zn and P. Found concentrations corresponded generally to the labelled contents with recovery in the range of 90–107% and 1.0–13.0% repeatability. The proposed technique could be an advantageous alternative to the more expensive inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry in the quality control of multimineral/multivitamin preparations.