Determination of Lead in Water Samples by GFAAS after Collection on Montmorillonite with Slurry Introduction

In this study, a highly accurate, fast and practical separation/enrichment technique is described to determine the Pb in tap water samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. For this purpose, at first, Pb was collected on montmorillonite by batch technique, the supernatant was decanted and the solid phase was slurried in a mixture of 0.1% Triton X-114 and 0.1 mol L^-1 HNO₃ then directly introduced into graphite furnace without elution. Since the elution step was not applied, the method was simpler and faster compared to conventional techniques. The risks of elution step on the precision and recovery were eliminated. Up to 50-fold enrichment could be obtained by this method. The limit of detection (3δ, N = 10) and characteristic concentration of the method for Pb were 0.46 and 1.13 μg L^-1, respectively. In addition, the Pb in water samples (tap and river) collected from different regions of Turkey were determined.