Microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry coupled to vapor generation (VG-MIP OES) as an alternative technique for As and Hg determination for seafood surveillance

Abstract

Fish and crustaceans can absorb inorganic contaminants such as arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) from sediments and water. The assessment of these potentially toxic contaminants in fishing resources is of utmost importance to ensure human health and food safety using reliable analytical methods that allow its determination. The standard techniques used for its determination are atomic spectrometry, absorption or fluorescence, or inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Here we proposed the application of cold vapor coupled to microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (CV-MIP OES) to determine Hg and the use of hydride generation (HG-MIP OES) to determine As. We present an exhaustive optimization of the volatile generation and analytical parameters. Both volatile contaminants were determined in muscle of a benthic crustacean (Penaeus paulensis, pink shrimp) and a carnivorous fish (Micropogonias furnieri, white croaker). Analytical performances were evaluated using certified reference materials of mussel tissue and dogfish liver. The methods' performance indicated no statistical differences between an ICP-MS-based procedure and the alternative proposed methods based on CV-MIP OES or HG-MIP OES. Hence, these methods can be postulated as alternatives to the commonly used techniques to assess the safety of seafood products. For the first time, potentially toxic elements were evaluated in wild pink shrimp.