Critical Evaluation of Analytical Procedures for the Determination of Lead in Seawater

This article presents a critical evaluation of the analytical procedures used for the determination of lead in seawater, which is important because lead is a good indicator of marine pollution caused by human activities. Sampling, storage, and pretreatment techniques are briefly overviewed, includin...

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Published inApplied spectroscopy reviews Vol. 47; no. 8; pp. 633 - 653
Main Authors Ferreira, S. L. C., Ferreira, H. S., Matos, G. D., Anunciação, D. S., dos Santos, W. N. L., Campos, V. P., de Andrade, J. B., Welz, B., Araujo, R. G. O., Curtius, A. J., Nascimento, P. C., Tormen, L., Jost, C. L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Taylor & Francis Group 01.11.2012
Taylor & Francis Ltd
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Summary:This article presents a critical evaluation of the analytical procedures used for the determination of lead in seawater, which is important because lead is a good indicator of marine pollution caused by human activities. Sampling, storage, and pretreatment techniques are briefly overviewed, including the significance of systematic errors that cannot be corrected later on. The main techniques in this article are electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and voltammetry. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) are treated as well, although their limits of quantification are not sufficient for a determination of lead in unpolluted seawater. Even when separation and preconcentration techniques are applied, these techniques are only capable of detecting lead in polluted coastal seawater. Separation and preconcentration are actually also required for ET-AAS and ICP-MS in order to determine the lowest concentrations of lead found in unpolluted open-ocean seawater, which is still a challenge for the analytical chemist.
ISSN:0570-4928
1520-569X
DOI:10.1080/05704928.2012.692103