Requirements for determining metals by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) vary according to metal and concentration. The AAS determination methods for these metals are organized as shown below.
Metals by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (Section 3111) encompasses the determination of
• antimony, bismuth, cadmium, calcium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, iridium, iron, lead, lithium, magnesium, manganese, nickel, palladium, platinum, potassium, rhodium, ruthenium, silver, sodium, strontium, thallium, tin, and zinc by direct aspiration into an air-acetylene flame (Section 3111 B),
• low concentrations of cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, silver, and zinc by chelation with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC), extraction into methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), and aspiration into an air-acetylene flame (Section 3111 C),
• aluminum, barium, beryllium, calcium, molybdenum, osmium, rhenium, silicon, thorium, titanium, and vanadium by direct aspiration into a nitrous oxide-acetylene flame (Section 3111 D), and
• low concentrations of aluminum and beryllium by chelation with 8-hydroxyquinoline, extraction into MIBK, and aspiration into a nitrous oxide-acetylene flame (Section 3111 E).
Section 3112 covers the determination of mercury by the cold vapor technique.
Section 3113 concerns the determination of micro quantities of aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, and tin by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.
Section 3114 covers the determination of arsenic and selenium by conversion to their hydrides and aspiration into an argon- hydrogen or nitrogen-hydrogen flame.