Determination of Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn in Edible Oils Using Reversed-Phase Ultrasonic Assisted Liquid–Liquid Microextraction and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Abstract

A simple and green reversed-phase ultrasonic assisted liquid−liquid microextraction method for determination of Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn in edible oils was developed. Detection was carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The influence of main parameters including ultrasonic time and temperature, disperser solvent, volume of extracting solvent and centrifuging time on the extraction efficiency of target analytes were investigated and optimized. In the proposed method, a few microliters of water (containing 3%, v/v, nitric acid) as extracting solvent was injected into the oil sample and mixture transferred to ultrasonic bath. Then, the mixture was centrifuged in order to accelerate in phase separation. Finally, the aqueous phase was removed and delivered to flame atomic absorption spectrometer. Calibration curves for all metals were linear in the range of 5‒100 ng/mL. The limit of detections for Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn were 0.8, 0.3, 0.5, 1.5 and 0.5 ng/mL, respectively. Relative standard deviation (RSD) values were in the range of 0.6‒1.9%. The recoveries were in the range of 95.2–101.2% with RSD values ranging from 0.8 to 1.9%. The proposed method was applied successfully for the determination of interested metals in commercial edible oils.