This aim of this work was to compare two methods for copper determination in insulating oils from power transformers by GFAAS. The first method was extraction induced by emulsion breaking, which determined the preconcentration of copper in an aqueous solution and exhibited a limit of quantification of 0.27 µg L-1. Also, a second method based on the direct introduction of samples into GFAAS in the form of detergent emulsions, prepared with Triton X-114 and HNO3, was investigated. In this case, the limit of quantification was 1.7 µg L-1. Seven samples of used oils were successfully analyzed by both methods.

This paper reports the evaluation of extraction strategies for the treatment of medicine samples to determine chromium and nickel by GFAAS. Different approaches for extraction were evaluated and the most efficient involved magnetic stirring. The metals were quantitatively extracted by stirring 0.20 g samples with 25 mL of 2.0 mol L-1 HCl solution for 60 min. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of Cr and Ni in tablets containing antibiotics and raw materials, with cephalexin and ciprofloxacin as active ingredients.