Direct determination of lead in alcoholic drinks and waters by flame atomic absorption spectrometry using an atom-trapping technique

A new method is described for the direct determination of lead in alcohlic drinks and various water samples by atomic absorption spectrometry using a water-cooled stainless-steel tube as a collector for lead atoms in an air–acelylene flame. The influence of different conditions on the sensitivity for lead was investigated. The characteristic concentrations of lead for the method were 0.044 and 0.0055 µg ml–1 when collecting for 1 and 5 min, respectively. A 10–100-fold improvement in sensitivity for lead was obtained as compared with conventional flame atomic absorption spectrometry. A series of alcoholic drinks and water samples were analysed successfully with a relative standard deviation of 2.7–5.1%.