Determination of vanadium in mussels by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry without chemical modifiers.

A method was developed for the quantitative determination of total vanadium concentration in mussels via electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). After the microwave digestion of the samples, a program using temperatures of 1600 degrees C and 2600 degrees C for ashing and atomization respectively, without any matrix modifiers, allowed us to obtain results that were satisfactory since they agreed closely with certified reference material values. The detection limit was 0.03 mg kg(-1) (dry weight), indicating that the method is suitable for the analysis of mussel samples. This determination was compared with matrix modifiers that have been reported previously. The method was applied to various cultivated and wild mussels from the Galician coast, yielding levels below 1 mg kg(-1) (wet weight).