Determination of inorganic arsenic in marine food samples by hydrochloric acid distillation and flow-injection hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry.

A simple, rapid, and reliable method was developed for determination of inorganic As in biological samples such as fish fillet. Inorganic AS was distilled from the sample as AsCl3 with HCl. The separated inorganic AS was determined by flow-injection hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry after prereduction with KI and HCl. The influences of various concentrations of KI, ascorbic acid, and HCl in the prereduction stage; NaBH4 as the reductant; and HCl as the carrier solution on analytical results were studied. Digestion was performed in a Kjeldahl digestion system for 75 min with 4 mL nitric acid and 1 mL sulfuric acid at 380 degrees C. The concentrations of inorganic As in samples were less than 0.1 mg/kg dry weight for fish fillet and somewhat higher for crustaceans and bivalve molluscs. The total and inorganic As contents of various marine biological samples and certified reference materials were determined.