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In this study, we propose a microextraction method for the determination of CdII in produced waters. The process is based on the conversion of CdII ions into a hydrophobic diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) complex with its subsequent dispersive liquid phase microextraction (DLPME) from the aqueous medium with chloroform. The organic phase was then diluted with ethanol and Cd absorbance was measured by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS). The experimental conditions related to the DLPME process were investigated, and the best microextraction conditions were achieved at pH = 6.0 (acetate buffer), 7.5 × 10-6 mol L-1 of DDTC, and when using 200 µL of chloroform as the extracting solvent. No dispersing solvent was needed, which allowed the recovery of approximately 140 µL of chloroform extract. Pyrolysis and atomization temperatures of the GF AAS program were determined through the construction of the respective curves. The estimated limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 5 and 17 ng L-1, respectively, whereas the enrichment factor for the method was 17. Six samples of seawater and five samples of produced waters with salinities between 30 and 270‰ were analyzed as well as two certified reference materials of saline waters.

This work reports the development of a simple and fast method for the spectrophotometric determination of Fe in diesel oil using the classic reaction with 1,10-phenanthroline after its extraction induced by emulsion breaking (EIEB). The extraction parameters of EIEB were optimized (concentration of HNO3 and Triton X-100® in the emulsifying solution) as well as the adjustment of the pH of the final solution, a necessary step to complete the colorimetric reaction. The developed method presented a limit of detection of 0.004 mg L-1 and a limit of quantification of 0.013 mg L-1 and was applied in the analysis of six samples of diesel oil with different specifications. The results were statistically similar to those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS). A recovery test was also performed by spiking the samples with 1.0 mg L-1 of Fe in the form of an organometallic compound, yielding recovery percentages between 83 and 108%.

Cadmium is considered a potentially toxic element, since it doesn't perform any biological function and is highly cumulative. This element is usually found in environmental samples in very low concentrations. For this reason, there is a necessity to develop methods that allow sufficiently low detection limits. From this perspective, a simple, sensitive, selective and low cost methodology was developed for the determination of Cd by F AAS. The system involves the on-line pre concentration of cadmium onto a commercial polystyrene divinil benzene (PSDV) resin modified with phenylfluorone (PF). The experimental conditions (both chemical and physical) were optimized to achieve highest sensitivity. The modified resin had high chemical and physical resistance, and could be reused for 300 cycles without compromising the system's sensitivity. The obtained enrichment factor was around 8 times and accuracy, calculated as relative standard deviation (RSD), of 5.5% for cadmium concentration of 40 µg L-1. The limits of detection and quantification obtained were 0.15 and 0.49 µg L-1, respectively. This methodology proved to be applicable for samples of river waters, in which matrix interferences were not observed. In these samples recovery tests were conducted in order to evaluate the accuracy of the method, and these results varied between 89 and 118%.

This paper reports the evaluation of extraction strategies for the treatment of medicine samples to determine chromium and nickel by GFAAS. Different approaches for extraction were evaluated and the most efficient involved magnetic stirring. The metals were quantitatively extracted by stirring 0.20 g samples with 25 mL of 2.0 mol L-1 HCl solution for 60 min. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of Cr and Ni in tablets containing antibiotics and raw materials, with cephalexin and ciprofloxacin as active ingredients.