CHAPTER 8: Some Aspects of Selenium Determination Employing Solid-Phase Extraction and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The selenium determination, as well as selenium speciation, continues to possess drawbacks to be overcome, mainly for complex samples. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, which has very good sensitivity, presents limitations for speciation because it provides only total concentration of the selenium. On the other hand, chromatographic techniques also present good performances but, in generally, need a troublesome and slow sample preparation. Preconcentration techniques, such as solid-phase extraction, have been employed due to the low concentrations of selenium species. This text presents an overview about selenium determination, focusing mainly on solid-phase extraction and atomic absorption spectrometry.