Emulsion breaking-induced extraction of Cd and Pb from oily dietary supplements followed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry detection

A method is described for the determination of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in oily dietary supplements using extraction induced by emulsion breaking (EIEB) and high-resolution continuum-source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS GFAAS). The method is based on the formation of a water-in-oil emulsion by the addition of an extractor solution consisting of 5 % (w/v) Triton X-100% and 15 % (v/v) hydrochloric acid (HCl) to the sample of oil diluted with 1.5 mL of toluene and the breakage of this emulsion by centrifugation (4000 rpm for 5 min). Two well-defined phases were formed and the acid aqueous phase containing extracted Cd and Pb ions was analyzed by HR-CS GFAAS. Different parameters that influence the extraction efficiency of Cd and Pb were optimized univariately. The detection limits were 3.32 μg kg−1 for Pb and 1.51 μg kg−1 for Cd. A matrix-based calibration method was applied to compensate for the interference caused by the matrix effects. The Cd concentration in the samples ranged from 8.81 to 9.35 μg kg−1 and the highest concentration of Pb was 19.91 μg kg−1. The proposed preparation of sample through extraction by breaking emulsions of oily dietary supplements proved to be a simple and efficient strategy to determine the amount of Pb and Cd by HR-CS GFAAS.