The Determination Of Thallium In Human Hair By Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

Abstract
An atomic absorption spectrophotometric procedure is des-scribed for the rapid determination of thallium in human hair. Samples of 500 μg are dissolved in nitric acid and treated with hydrogen peroxide. Aliquots of 10 μL are then analyzed using electrothermal atomization in a graphite tube furnace. The characteristic concentration for the method is 1 mg Tl kg−1 which is adequate for forensic investigation. The relative standard deviation for a series of signals from a hair sample spiked to contain 32 mg Tl−1 kg was 3 per cent.