Determination of lead in bone by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman effect background correction

a simple method for measuring trace levels of pb in bone by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry is described. it is shown that pb can be accurately measured with good precision and accuracy using external calibration with aqueous pb analytical solutions containing nh4h2po4 as modifier. the detection limit was found to be 0.07 ng ml-1, corresponding to 0.022 mg g-1 in the original sample. consequently, the limit of quantification was found to be 0.23 ng ml-1. the precision of the procedure, expressed by the relative standard deviation, was 3.5% for 400 ng pb in sample measurements. the accuracy of the procedure was confirmed by the good concordance between found and certified values in the analysis of a bone meal certified reference material, nist srm 1846.