Ultrasound-assisted emulsification of solidified floating organic drop microextracted for pre-concentration of cadmium in food and water samples

Abstract

In this study, a procedure for the pre-concentration and determination of cadmium in food samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) was developed based on ultrasound-assisted emulsification microextraction with solidification of floating organic droplet (USAEME-SFO) using 1-(2-thiazolylazo)-p-cresol (TAC) as complexing reagent. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.60 μg L⁻¹ and 2.0 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The method's precision was expressed as relative standard deviation of 3.0% (10 μg L⁻¹). Accuracy was evaluated through certified reference sample analysis of tomato leaves (SRM 1573a), rice flour (NIES 10b), and Drinking Water Standard 1071, and the recovery test results ranged from 90 to 100%. The procedure was applied for the determination of cadmium in corn flour, bean, cabbage, and mineral water samples in which the analyte concentration ranged from 0.30 to 2.1 μg g⁻¹ for food samples and from 0.30 to 0.46 μg L⁻¹ for water samples.