Abstract: A simple and sensitive method has been developed for the determination of trace arsenic in beverages. The arsenic was fixed on finely divided silica gel as complex with ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC). The silica gel was collected on a membrane filter by filtration under suction, then washed down by 0.1 mol/L hydrochloric acid from membrane filter paper and the suspension was directly subjected to the determination by hydridegeneration atomic absorption spectrometry. When n = 6, the standard deviation (SD) of these samples were from 0.01 to 0.08 and recoveries were 94.4 % and 100.5 %, The results were comparatively satisfactory in enrichment in comparison with the other methods.

Key words: arsenic, beverage, enrichment, hydridegeneration atomic absorption spectrometry