Simultaneous Determination of Arsenic and Mercury in Talcum by Hydride Generation-Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

A method for the simultaneous determination of arsenic and mercury in talclum by hydride generationatomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS) was established. Hydrochloric acid was used to dissolve the sample and the addition of thiourea-ascorbic acid can effectively eliminate the interference from coexisting elements such as Al, Fe, Ca, Cu, Pb, Cd in talclum. The detection limits of the method are 0.047 mg/L for As and 3.9 ng/L for Hg. The recoveries are 107.5％~109.2% for As and 103.3％~130.0% for Hg with the precision of 0.6%RSD for As and 0.7%RSD for Hg（n=11）. The method can be used in routine inspection of As and Hg in talclum samples.