Determination of cadmium and lead in table salt by sequential multi-element flame atomic absorption spectrometry

In the present paper, a simultaneous pre-concentration procedure for the sequential determination of cadmium and lead in table salt samples using flame atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. This method is based on the liquid-liquid extraction of cadmium(II) and lead(II) ions as dithizone complexes and direct aspiration of the organic phase for the spectrometer. The sequential determination of cadmium and lead is possible using a computer program. The optimization step was performed by a two-level fractional factorial design involving the variables: pH, dithizone mass, shaking time after addition of dithizone and shaking time after addition of solvent. In the studied levels these variables are not significant. The experimental conditions established propose a sample volume of 250 mL and the extraction process using 4.0 mL of methyl isobutyl ketone. This way, the procedure allows determination of cadmium and lead in table salt samples with a pre-concentration factor higher than 80, and detection limits of 0.3 ng g−1 for cadmium and 4.2 ng g−1 for lead. The precision expressed as relative standard deviation (n = 10) were 5.6 and 2.6% for cadmium concentration of 2 and 20 ng g−1, respectively, and of 3.2 and 1.1% for lead concentration of 20 and 200 ng g−1, respectively. Recoveries of cadmium and lead in several samples, measured by standard addition technique, proved also that this procedure is not affected by the matrix and can be applied satisfactorily for the determination of cadmium and lead in saline samples. The method was applied for the evaluation of the concentration of cadmium and lead in table salt samples consumed in Salvador City, Bahia, Brazil.