The proposed method (FI-HG-AAS) was highly efficient
and required small amounts of samples and
reagents and a minimum of sample manipulation. The
method was versatile (more than 120 samples/h), free
from interferences, and relatively cheap. FI-HG-AAS
can be used as an alternative to conventional methods
to determine Pb in wine and other beverages. Modifying
the chemical and physical conditions of Pb hydride
generation and sample pretreatment would allow the
proposed method to be used to determine Pb in other
similar samples such as grape juice and juices in general
and in most soft drinks. To evaluate the analytical
characteristics of the method, the characteristic mass
and precision were evaluated, and the detection and
quantification limits were calculated according to IUPAC
rules (Long and Winefordner, 1983). Accuracy was
tested with recovery assays by adding Pb at concentrations
of 25, 50, 100, and 150 ng/mL to different randomly
chosen samples and processing the mixtures as described
above in triplicate. The results are shown in
Table 3 as the mean ( standard deviation at the 95%
confidence level. The technique was accurate and
reproducible. The data for 10 determinations in three
different samples were analyzed statistically, and these
results are also shown in Table 3.