Abstract: Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with microwave digestion was applied to determine lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese, zinc and nickel in spices. The linear range of the developed ICP-MS method was from 0 to 500 ng/mL (r > 0.9995). The detection limits were between 0.009 ng/mL and 0.42 ng/mL. The precision of the method was evaluated with a relative standard derivation (RSD) of lower than 5%, and the average recoveries in a sample spiked at three levels were in the range of 88% to 109% (n = 11). The results of determining various elements in three standard reference materials of GBW08521, GBW(E)080684 and GBW07605 (GSV-4) were all within the ranges of standard values. This method proves good simplicity, sensitivity and accuracy in the determination of heavy metal elements in spices.

Key words: spices, heavy metal elements, microwave digestion, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry