Evaluation of ultrasound-assisted in situ sorbent formation solid-phase extraction method for determination of arsenic in water, food and biological samples

A simple and rapid ultrasound-assisted in situ sorbent formation solid-phase extraction (UAISFSPE) coupled with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry detection (ET-AAS) was developed for preconcentration and determination of arsenic (As) in various samples. A small amount of cationic surfactant is dissolved in the aqueous sample containing As ions, which were complexed by ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate After shaking, a little volume of hexafluorophosphate (NaPF6) as an ion-pairing agent was added into the solution by a microsyringe. Due to the interaction between surfactant and ion-pairing agent, solid particles are formed. The alkyl groups of the surfactant in the solid particles strongly interact with the hydrophobic groups of analytes and become bound. Sonication aids the dispersion of the sorbent into the sample solution and mass transfer of the analyte into the sorbent, thus reducing the extraction time. The solid particles are centrifuged, and the sedimented particles can be dissolved in an appropriate solvent to recover the absorbed analyte. After separation, total arsenic (As(III) and As(V)) was determined by ET-AAS. Several experimental parameters were investigated and optimized. A detection limit of 7 ng L−1 with preconcentration factor of 100 and relative standard deviation for 10 replicate determinations of 0.1 µg L−1 As(III) were 4.5% achieved. Consequently, the method was applied to the determination of arsenic in certified reference materials, water, food and biological samples with satisfactory results.