Abstract: In order to develop a microwave digestion followed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) method to determine aluminum in aquatic products, sample pretreatment and instrumental conditions were optimized. The detection limit of the method was 1.63μg/kg and the linear range was from 1.63 to 40.0μg/L (Y = 0.0204x + 0.1461, r = 0.998). Adding 5.00 mg/kg aluminum solution into perch, prawn and portunid samples, the recoveries were from 100.20% to 101.73%, and the RSDs from 3.98% to 5.85%. The contents in the scallop certified reference material determined by the method were in the allowable range. The method has high sensitivity and accuracy and, consequently is suitable for the determination of aluminum in aquatic products.

Key words: aquatic products, aluminum, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS)