Determination of Tellurium in Urine by Hydride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Abstract

Trace tellurium in urine was determined by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry. The urine was digested with HNO₃-HclO₄ and evaporated to dryness. Tellurium(VI) in the urine was reduced to tellurium(IV) by hydrochloric acid during the drying step. The residue was dissolved into 6M hydrochloric acid, and introduced into a hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometer. Recoveries of tellurium added to urine samples ranged from 90 to 95%, the relative standard deviation was 9% at the 0.1μg level. The tellurium contents in urine ranged from 0.02 to 1.63μg l-1.