Determination of Trace Amounts of Selenium in Corn, Lettuce, Potatoes, Soybeans, and Wheat by Hydride Generation/Condensation and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

摘要

Because of the nutritional and toxicological significance of low selenium concentrations in agricultural crops, a procedure utilizing wet digestion followed by hydride generation/condensation-flame atomic absorption was developed for the routine analysis of selenium in different varieties of soybeans, wheat, potatoes, lettuce, and sweet corn. The lowest quantifiable level, based on 2 g of sample, is 1 ng/g (dry weight) for all crop types studied. The precision for the total analysis is 3.7% relative standard deviation (RSD) at a mean concentration of 100 ng/g and 13% RSD at a mean concentration of 1 ng/g. Sample recoveries, precision studies, and analyses of NBS reference materials demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of this technique. A summary of results for 830 crop samples is reported.