Abstract
Herein, an eco-friendly, simple, and inexpensive procedure was developed using vortex-assisted combined with deep eutectic solvent-based liquid phase microextraction (VA-LPME-DES) followed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. In the present procedure, DES was first synthesized from the combination of l-menthol and (1S)-(+)-camphor-10-sulfonic acid (CSA) in a molar ratio of 5:1, and then it was used as a green and safe extractant instead of common toxic organic solvents. The ability of the presented method was applied for the separation and preconcentration of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and arsenic (As) in herbal medicines. After optimizing all the parameters of the experiment, the linear ranges were 0.10–200 µg kg−1 with coefficient of determination (r2) better than 0.985. The limits of detection were in the ranges of 0.03–0.15 µg kg−1. Relative standard deviation values for intra-day and inter-day of the method based on 7 replicate measurements were in the range of 1.8%–3.6% and 3.1%–7.3%, respectively. The relative recoveries of herbal medicines which have been spiked with different concentrations of metal ions were 91.5%–109.8%. The method was successfully used to analyze the heavy and toxic metals in herbal medicine samples.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.