Cadmium and lead in infant cereals — electrothermal-atomic absorption spectroscopic determination

Because infant cereals are an important component of the infant diet from the fourth month of life onwards and therefore contribute to the dietetic intake of metals by infants, cadmium and lead were measured in samples of cereals commercially available in Spain. For this purpose an electrothermal atomic absorption (ET-AAS) method for determining cadmium and lead in these products was studied. The ET-AAS instrumental conditions and temperature/time furnace program were selected. The analytical parameters of the method (linearity, detection and quantification limits and precision) show its usefulness in measuring cadmium and lead in infant cereal products. The method was applied to eight diff…