Determination of beryllium in various types of natural waters by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The procedure for the reliable determination of Be in natural waters by ETAAS was elaborated.
Various modifiers (EDTA, Ca(NO3)2, Mg(NO3)2, Pd(NO3)2 and the mixture of Pd(NO3)2 and
Mg(NO3)2) for the determination of beryllium was examined. The applicability of the selected
Mg(NO3)2 as the appropriate and generally used modifier for the determination of Be in the different
types of natural waters by ETAAS has been confirmed. The accuracy of the method was verified by
analyzing of the certified reference material of drinking water ("Trace Metals in Drinking Water"). The
real drinking waters and waste waters with the reference values of Be concentration, spiked tap
water, mineral waters and model river water were utilized for the determination of Be. Using
Mg(NO3)2 for modification, the detection limit of 0.07 μg L-1, the quantification limit of 0.22 μg L-1 and
characteristic mass of 3.7 pg of Be were obtained. The recovery was in the range 95–111% and (%)
RSD value was less than 8%.