Sequential extraction-spectrofluorimetric determination of lead and cadmium using cryptands

A spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of ultratrace amounts of lead and cadmium is described based on the sequential extraction of the ternary ion-association complexes formed between the cation, a cryptand as the ligand and eosin as a counter ion. A linear working range from the detection limit (0.5 ng ml(-1) to 250 ng ml(-1) of lead and to 1 50 ng ml(-1) of cadmium was obtained. The relative standard deviation was 2-4%. The proposed method has been applied successfully to the determination of lead and cadmium in zinc metals and soft drinks.