Switchable hydrophilicity solvent-based preconcentration for ICP-OES determination of trace lead in environmental samples

In this work, switchable hydrophilicity solvent-based extraction (SHSE) was combined with inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for the determination of trace lead (Pb) in environmental water and soil samples. During the phase transformation of SHSE, the organic phase appeared to capture the target analytes effectively. The resultant sample solution was heated to remove the organic phase, realizing the successful combination with ICP-OES. The sensitivity was obviously improved by adding non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114 (TX-114) and the sensitization factor of 3.8 was achieved. Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) and enhancement factor (EF) were 0.07 mu g/L and 38, respectively. The established method was applied to analyze environmental samples and certified reference material with satisfactory results. The analytical results of environmental samples were in great agreement with those obtained by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The established method provides a promising, simple and sensitive approach for the determination of trace Pb in environmental samples.