Efficient generation of volatile species for cadmium analysis in seafood and rice samples by a modified chemical vapor generation system coupled with atomic fluorescence spectrometry

•We develop a modified chemical vapor generation method coupled with AFS for the determination of cadmium.•The response of Cd could be increased at least four-fold compared to conventional thiourea and Co(II) system.•A simple mixing sequences experiment is designed to study the reaction mechanism.•The interference of transition metal ions can be easily eliminated by adding DDTC.•The method is successfully applied in seafood samples and rice samples.

A vapor generation procedure to determine Cd by atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) has been established. Volatile species of Cd are generated by following reaction of acidified sample containing Fe(II) and l-cysteine (Cys) with sodium tetrahydroborate (NaBH4). The presence of 5 mg L−1 Fe(II) and 0.05% m/v Cys improves the efficiency of Cd vapor generation substantially about four-fold compared with conventional thiourea and Co(II) system. Three experiments with different mixing sequences and reaction times are designed to study the reaction mechanism. The results document that the stability of Cd(II)–Cys complexes is better than Cys–THB complexes (THB means NaBH4) while the Cys–THB complexes have more contribution to improve the Cd vapor generation efficiency than Cd(II)–Cys complexes. Meanwhile, the adding of Fe(II) can catalyze the Cd vapor generation. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limit of Cd is 0.012 μg L−1; relative standard deviations vary between 0.8% and 5.5% for replicate measurements of the standard solution. In the presence of 0.01% DDTC, Cu(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) have no significant influence up to 5 mg L−1, 10 mg L−1and 10 mg L−1, respectively. The accuracy of the method is verified through analysis of the certificated reference materials and the proposed method has been applied in the determination of Cd in seafood and rice samples.

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