Rapid and simple method for the determination of copper, manganese and zinc in rat liver by direct flame atomic absorption spectrometry

An acidic homogenate method, which includes simple homogenization pre-treatment of tissue material and direct nebulization flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), is successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of copper, manganese and zinc in rat liver. The proposed method involves only a few steps for sample pre-treatment at room temperature, making the risk of systematic errors very small. Because recoveries of 101% for copper, 98% for manganese and 100% for zinc could be achieved using aqueous standards, matrix-matched standards were redundant. Favourable results obtained in biological media, including limits of detection of 0.04, 0.03 and 0.04 mg l-1 for Cu, Mn and Zn, respectively, together with accuracies of 0-3%, and relative standard deviations ranging from 2 to 10% are further evidence of the suitability of the method.