Optimization of Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for Measurement of High Concentrations of Arsenic and Selenium

High concentrations of As and Se in mining wastes covering a large area in the mine operating countries present a threat to public health, environment and ecological diversity in different countries. Therefore, a rapid, cost-effective, affordable and routine analysis is needed to monitor the preliminary contamination levels in these countries. In order to achieve this goal, this study has optimised the flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) to determine the high concentrations of As and Se using standard samples. The best result of the calibration curve fit (R2 = 0.959) was found for the standard As concentrations of 0, 5.61, 11.22, 16.83 and 22.45 mg/L; and indicated the very strong linearity of calibration. This procedure allowed a rapid determination of As from minimum 4.462 mg/L to higher concentrations without sample pretreatment. Besides As, this method successfully measured Se concentrations from minimum 1.0 mg/L to higher concentrations. The results showed that FAAS can measure lower concentrations of Se than As. Therefore, this method can be widely applied in different countries for determination of As and Se in environmental samples with high concentrations for the rapid, cost-effective and routine analysis, who can not afford the expensive methods such as ICP-MS, ICP-AES, ICP-OES etc. The study finally suggests the implications of the findings to chemical education.