Minicolumn field preconcentration and flow-injection flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination of cadmium in seawater

A simple method for the continuous field preconcentration of trace dissolved cadmium in seawater samples has been developed based on the minicolumn field sampling technique. For this purpose, minicolumns containing Chelite P (aminomethylphosphonic groups) were connected to a field flow preconcentration system (FFPS). Once in the laboratory, these minicolumns are sequentially inserted into a flow-injection system for on-line cadmium elution and detection by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Factorial designs have been used to optimise the FFPS and the flow-injection elution process. Six experimental variables were optimised: sample pH, sample flow-rate, eluent concentration, eluent volume, eluent flow-rate and minicolumn diameter. The detection limit (3F) of the procedure was 2.7 ng l^-1 for a sample volume of 300 ml. The precision (expressed as relative standard deviation) for 11 independent determinations was 0.5–9.4% for cadmium solutions of 10–300 ng l^-1. Analysis of certified reference materials (SLEW-3 and NASS-5) showed good agreement with the certified values. This procedure has been successfully applied to the determination of cadmium in seawater samples from Galicia (Spain).