Arsenic speciation by hydride generation-Quartz furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Optimization of analytical parameters and application to environmental samples

Analytical parameters of hydride generation, trapping, gas chromatography and atomic absorption spectrometry detec- tion in a quartz cell furnace (HG/GC/QFAAS) device have been optimized in order to develop an efficient and sensitive method for arsenic compounds speciation. Good performances were obtained with absolute detection limits in the range of 0.1 - 0.5 ng for arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonic acid (MMAA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA) and trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO). A pH selective reduction for inorganic arsenic speciation was successfully reported. Application to the accurate determination of arsenic compounds in different environmental samples was performed.