Inorganic selenium speciation in environmental samples using selective electrodeposition coupled with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Speciation analyses are of increasing interest in the environmental, toxicological and analytical fields, because the toxicity and reactivity of trace elements depend strongly on the chemical forms in which they are present. A simple electrodeposition–electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry method for speciation analysis of some organic and inorganic selenium species in typical environmental water and agricultural soil samples has been developed. The method is based on the selective reduction of water-soluble Se(IV) and selenocystine (Se–Cys) species by an uncontrolled applied potential (1.8 V) on a mercury-coated electrode. In acidic media (1.0 M HCl solution) the only inorganic selenium species electrodeposited was Se(IV), and, of the water-soluble organic selenium species Se–Cys and Se–Met only Se–Cys was electrodeposited onto the mercury electrode surface. The proposed methodology was successfully applied to the speciation and determination of selenium in a few environmental samples. The spiked recovery value varied between 91% and 99%. The suggested method has been shown to have a characteristic mass (m0) of 25 pg, a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.0 μg L− 1 and a relative standard deviation (RSD%) of 3.5% for 6 measurements at a concentration of 100 μg L− 1 Se(VI).