CHEMICAL OR SOLUTE VAPORIZATION INTERFERENCES IN FLAME ATOMIC EMISSION AND ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY - ALKALINE EARTH ANION SYSTEMS

The published literature on the flame emission spectrometry determination of trace elements in solution contains numerous accounts of chemical or solute vaporization interference effects. One of the most widely documented interferences of this type is the depression of alkaline earth emission signals by increasing concentrations of phosphate, sulfate, or borate in solution. The data presented in this paper show that these interferences can be eliminated at the interferent concentrations normally encountered by providing smaller aerosol particle size distributions, higher flame temperatures, and longer residence times in the flame. The data also refute the claim that flame atomic emission techniques are more susceptible to interferences of this type than atomic absorption spectrometry. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.