Validation of a Method To Quantify Copper and Other Metals in Olive Fruit by ETAAS. Application to the Residual Metal Control after Olive Tree Treatments with Different Copper Formulations

An electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry method was validated to quantify residues of copper, aluminum, cadmium, chromium, iron, lead, and nickel in olive fruit. The linearity ranges under the optimized conditions were 0.19−20.0, 1.11−50.0, 0.02−2.0, 0.15−20.0, 0.80−20.0, 0.35−50.0, and 0.60−50.0 μg/L, respectively. The limits of quantification were, expressed in nanograms per gram of dry weight, 12.6, 74.0, 1.34, 10.0, 53.4, 23.4, and 40.0, respectively. For all of the metals the precision of the instrumental method was