Abstract:

Hydride generation-high resolution continuum source atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-HRCS-AAS) has been
employed in this work to determine mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) levels in 22 kind of foods including cereals, vegetables,
beverage, aquatic products and dairy foods. The methods for sample pretreatment and quantitative analysis were established. The
limit of detection (LOD) was 0.067 μg/L for Hg and 0.088 μg/L for As. The recoveries of Hg and As from spiked samples were
97.0%–104.2% and 96.4%–105.1%, with RSD of 0.8%–4.7% and 3.5%–4.9% (n = 6), respectively. The results showed that the
content of Hg was higher in whole wheat flour, coffee and aquatic products samples and was detectable in fruit juice samples. The
content of As in Chinese leek, coiliaspp, shellfish and shrimp was higher than that in other tested foods.

Key words: hydride generation-high resolution continuum source atomic absorption spectrometry, foods, mercury, arsenic, quantitative analysis