Total arsenic in urine: palladium-persulfate vs nickel as a matrix modifier for graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

We evaluated the effectiveness of nickel and palladium with or without added potassium persulfate as matrix modifiers for the determination of total arsenic in urine. Complete recovery of pure aqueous solutions of As(III), As(V), cacodylic acid (DMA), monomethylarsinic acid (MMA), and o-arsanilic acid was attained by using both nickel and palladium modifiers. Combined arsenobetaine and arsenocholine (so-called fish arsenic), extracted from a certified control material of dogfish muscle (DORM-1), were completely recovered with Pd-S2O8 matrix modification, but not with nickel. Excellent agreement with target values for arsenic in urines from the Centre de Toxicologie du Quebec, supplied by the Interlaboratory Comparison Program, was attained irrespective of the arsenic source when we used Pd-S2O8 as the matrix modifier.