Improvement of direct determination of Cu and Mn in seawater by GFAAS and total elimination of the saline matrix with the use of hydrofluoric acid

Hydrofluoric acid, added to seawater, can assist in the removal of chloride in the drying step by precipitating fluoride salts, thus suppressing the chloride interference effects induced on the atomization signals of Cu and Mn. By adding HF to seawater before the analysis, MgF2 and CaF2 are precipitated at the bottom of the sampling flask, without precipitating Cu and Mn, and are consequently not introduced into the graphite furnace. Because sodium salts are eliminated at the pretreatment step, the whole seawater matrix is eliminated before the atomization of Cu or Mn. Therefore, the analyzed volume of seawater can be increased by using the multi-injection procedure without degradation of the limit of detection and risks of spectral interferences. The limit of detection obtained for Cu and Mn are 0.05 and 0.01 μg L−1, respectively, for a 50 μL analyzed seawater volume.