engleski

GFAAS for ultra-trace metal analysis of essential oils

Essential oils, also named volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetherolea, are defined as concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from various plants. They are nowadays widely used as home remedies, like tea tree oil, which is considered to be an all-round medicine. Apart from medicinal use, essential oils are applied in aromatherapy, household cleaning products, and for personal beauty care. They are applied diluted or undiluted. The topical administration is usually considered to be safe, but cases of skin irritation and swelling have been reported. Although skin irritation is mainly associated with the organic compounds, it may also be caused by allergenic metals, such as nickel, cobalt or chromium. Thus, a fast, simple and reliable method for the determination of selected skin- irritating metals in essential oil samples is needed. The measurements are performed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). Although a single-element method, it offers substantial advantages for the given analytical task. The oil samples can be applied directly without any sample pre-treatment, reducing time and labor as well as the risk of contamination by the reagents used for digestion. Another crucial advantage is the possibility of repetitive sample introduction, when the value is below LOD. In case of digestion, the entire sample preparation has to be repeated with higher amount of sample, resulting in problems of entire dissolution as well as time and man work needed. Due to the reasons listed above GFAAS is a good choice for trace metal determination in essential oils.

ultra-trace metals ; GFAAS ; essential oils

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