Objective To establish a method to measure lead and cadmium in soil by microwave digestion-graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (FGAAS).
Methods Soil samples were ground to pass 100-mesh sieve, digested using HNO3-HF-H2O2 under microwave treatment and determined by GFAAS.
Results When the lead concentrations were in the range of 5.0-40.0 μg/L and the cadmium concentrations were in the range of 0.20-2.00 μg/L, the linearity of this method was good, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 9. The detection limits of lead and cadmium were 5.0 and 0.040 mg/kg respectively. The recovery rate was 90.0%-110.0%. The relative standard deviation was 4.1%-6.9%. The determination results of standard samples were within the uncertainty.
Conclusion The method is characterized by simple, rapid, and little disturbance with high accuracy; therefore, it is suitable for regular measurement of lead and cadmium in soil.
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