Determination of lead in hair and its segmental analysis by solid sampling electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A rapid and practical solid sampling electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric method was described for the determination of lead in scalp hair. Hair samples were washed once with acetone; thrice with distilled-deionized water and again once with acetone and dried at 75 °C. Typically 0.05 to 1.0 mg of dried samples were inserted on the platforms of solid sampling autosampler. The effects of pyrolysis temperature, atomization temperature, the amount of sample as well as addition of a modifier (Pd/Mg) and/or auxiliary digesting agents (hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid) and/or a surfactant (Triton X-100) on the recovery of lead were investigated. Hair samples were washed once with acetone; thrice with distilled-deionized water and again once with acetone and dried at 75 °C. Typically 0.05 to 1.0 mg of dried samples were inserted on the platforms of solid sampling autosampler. The limit of detection for lead (3σ, N = 10) was 0.3 ng/g The addition of modifier, acids, oxidant and surfactant hardly improved the results. Due to the risk of contamination and relatively high blank values, the lead in hair were determined directly without adding any reagent(s). Finally, the method was applied for the segmental determination of lead concentrations in hair of different persons which is important to know when and how much a person was exposed to the analyte. For this purpose, 0.5 cm of pieces were cut along the one or a few close strands and analyzed by solid sampling.