Determination of Arsenic and Mercury in Soil by Microwave Digestion and Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

A method for simultaneously determining elements of As and Hg in soil using microwave for sample digestion and using atomic fluorescence spectrometry for analysis was developed. The experimental conditions were optimized by optimizing instrument parameters such as digestion system, lamp current, carrier gas flow and shield gas flow. At the optimal conditions, the effects for As and Hg were as follows: detection limits 0. 02μg/L and 0.01μg/L respectively; linear ranges 0～40μg/L and 0～4μg/L respectively; spiking recoveries for both elements 92%～102% , RSD 0.9%～3.1% and 1.5%～3.4% respectively. Therefore the method is completely suitable to detect soil samples.