The voltammetric behaviour of lead at a microband screen-printed carbon electrode and its determination in acetate leachates from glazed ceramic plates

Microband screen-printed carbon electrodes (μBSPCEs) without further modification have been investigated as disposable sensors for the measurement of lead in acetate leachates from ceramic glazed plates. Cyclic voltammetry was employed to elucidate the electrochemical behaviour of Pb2+ at these electrodes in a variety of supporting electrolytes. The anodic peaks obtained on the reverse scans, showed that Pb had been deposited as a thin layer on the surface of the μBSPCE. The anodic peak of greatest magnitude was obtained in 0.1 M pH 4.1 acetate buffer containing 13 mM Cl−. The effect of chromium, copper, phosphate, sulphate and tin was examined and under the conditions employed, no significant change in current was found. The μBSPCEs were evaluated by carrying out lead determinations for acetate leachates from glazed ceramic plates. A highly decorated ornamental plate was found to leach 400 μg Pb2+ (%CV = 1.91%). A second plate, designed for dinnerware was found not to leach any detectable levels of Pb2+. However, once fortified with 2.10 μg of Pb (equivalent to 100 ng/ml in the leachate), a mean recovery of 82.08% (%CV = 4.07%) was obtained. The performance characteristics indicate that reliable data has been obtained for this application which could identify potentially toxic sources of lead.