Accuracy in furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy

Abstract

The author holds that, when graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS) is used correctly, it comes as close to being accurate as any analytical technique that has been proposed for trace metal determination. This paper emphasizes that the analytical curve from simple standard solutions applies equally to a wide range of matrices. The slope of the linear portion of an analytical curve for each element is reported as characteristic mass, the mass of analyte in pg that produces a 1% absorption (which is 0.0044 absorbance) signal. The author has also shown that instruments with similar furnace geometries provide very similar characteristic masses. Thus, obtaining the expected a characteristic mass for a particular analyte is a useful quality assurance indicator.