Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry(ETAAS) using a graphite tube atomizer is one of the most commonly used tech niques for the determination of trace elements in complex matrices and in quality control. Although in this technique,samples are also often introduced in solution form, ET AAS greatly facilitates alter- nate sample introduction techniques, such as slurry sampling(SIS) and the direct analysis of solid samples S. Particularly the latter technique is characterized by several interesting advantages, such as a greatly reduced risk of contamination and analyte loss, high sample throughput and relatively moderate cost. Both tech niques have been extensively employed for the determination of volatile and medium volatile elements in environmental and bio- logical samples mostly because of their toxicity importance However, for both techniques, problems resulting from high back- ground absorption, calibration difficulties, weighing errors, sample inhomogeneity, etc. might become important, unless certain rules are strictly observed. Direct SS and SIS ET AAS make possi- ble the direct analysis ofsub-mg masses ofsample without previous preparation. However, the introduction of such small amounts of sample into the graphite furnace is a critical stage in the analyt ical process. Particularly for SIS, the discontinuation of the only commercially available automatic slurry sampler has brought back all the previously described problems associated with slurry stability and sedimentation