Determination of manganese in river and sea-water samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with a tungsten atomizer

A method for the direct determination of manganese in river and sea-water reference materials using electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with a tungsten atomizer is described. Interferences caused by the sea-water matrix are investigated and it is shown that these can be eliminated by the addition of ascorbic acid. The method is applied to the determination of manganese in sea-water reference materials and results within one standard deviation of certified values are obtained. The detection limit (3σ) in sea-water is 1.2 pg, corresponding to 0.12 µg l–1 for a 10 µl sample.