Elimination of metal interferences in the hydride generation atomic-absorption spectrometry of arsenic using sodium tetrahydroborate(III) solution

In the determination of 0.1 µg of arsenic by hydride generation atomic-absorption spectrometry, at least 5 mg of Ni2+ and Co2+ and 50 µg of Pt2+ can be tolerated without any masking reagent if dilute sodium tetrahydroborate(III) solution is used. The proposed method was applied successfully to the determination of arsenic in samples such as steel, nickel, copper, coal fly ash, urban particulates, glasses and orchard leaves.