Determination of Lanthanum, Europium, and Ytterbium in Food Samples by Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A method had been developed for the determination of lanthanum, europium, and ytterbium in food samples by using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with a graphite furnace lined with tungsten foil. The proposed method provides higher sensitivity than inductively coupled plasma/atomic emission spectrometry (ICP/AES); the characteristic masses are 8.1 x 10-9 g for lanthanum, 3.9 x 10-11 g for europium, and 4.27 x 10,-12 g for ytterbium. The precision, accuracy, and interferences of the method were also investigated. The method can be used for the analysis of trace amounts of lanthanum, europium, and ytterbium in various foods without predissociation of the matrixes of the digested solutions. The results obtained by the method are in good agreement with those from ICP/AES.