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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Determination of Inorganic Arsenic in a Wide Range of Food Matrices using Hydride Generation - Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
Published on: September 1, 2017
Determination of selenium in nutritional supplements and shampoos by flow injection-hydride generation-atomic
L Gámiz-Gracia1, M D Luque de Castro
1Analytical Chemistry Division, Faculty of Sciences, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
Abstract:
A method for the determination of Se in pharmaceutical samples (nutritional supplements and shampoos) is proposed. The method involves two steps: (1) digestion of the samples and reduction of all forms of Se to Se(IV), which is complete in only 10 min by the use of a focused microwave digestor; and (2) continuous derivatisation (hydride formation) and spectrometry detection by atomic fluorescence. The method can be applied over a wide range of concentrations (0.3-1300 ng ml(-1) of Se) with good repeatability (RSD values lower than 4.6%). The method has been applied successfully to a reference material, and two different types of pharmaceuticals (namely, five different nutritional supplements-with Se present as sodium selenite and Se-methionine-and two shampoos, with selenium sulphide), in agreements with the certified and nominal values, respectively. Yields ranged between 86.5 and 104.8%, and good precision (RSD values lower than 4.2%) were obtained in all instances.
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