Application of graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GF-AAS) on determination of lead in bay (Syzygium polyanthum) leaves

Concentration of lead in nine bay leaf samples was determined using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS). Utilization of ammonium phosphate as the matrix modifier and adjustment of graphite furnace (GF) setting has resulted in satisfactory analytical recovery (99.75 – 101.82%) and precision (4.09 – 5.21%), compared to that without modifier (recovery of 51.41 – 58.95% and precision of 18.45 – 26.02%). The lead content in bay leaves ranged between less than the detection limit (0.78 mg/kg) to 3.37 mg/kg. The fact that 30% samples exceeded the maximum limit (1.0 mg/kg) established by Indonesian Food and Drug Agency for spice commodities should encourage further study focusing on the investigation of factors that contributed to high lead content in the products and methods to mitigate the issue.The original version of this article supplied to AIP Publishing contained an error in the author’s name. The name originally appeared as, Latifahtul Husna, but the correct name is Latifah Tulhusna. An updated version of this article, with the author’s name corrected, was published on 28 July 2020.