Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced a robust method for analysis of trace elements in honey by atomic absorption using the Thermo Scientific ICE 3500 atomic absorption spectrometer.
The ICE 3500 offers a dual atomiser design that allows automatic, efficient and safe switching between flame and graphite furnace analyses without the need for user intervention or alignment adjustment.
By utilising the system's flame and furnace methods, users can undertake both high level and low level analyses on the same instrument.
The flame sample introduction system is able to efficiently run dissolved honey samples without blockage or contamination, while the furnace system handles acid digested samples with ease.
The method is described in a new application note entitled 'The analysis of trace elements in honey by flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry,' available for download from the company's website.
In the European Union, honey must adhere to strict composition criteria, including sugar, moisture and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content to ensure the quality and safety of products for consumption.
In addition, honeys from certain geographical regions or botanical sources merit higher prices than others and checking the product's authenticity is now a significant area of analytical testing.
Generally, in Western Europe, the US and Japan, honey imported from Asia or South America has a lower price than locally produced honey and is therefore prone to mislabelling.
It is the primary responsibility of the industry to ensure that honey intended for exports is processed and analysed to ensure that it does not contain any elements that can pose health risks.
The viscous and sugary nature of honey makes it a difficult substance for quantitative trace elemental analysis.
This application note demonstrates how flame and graphite furnace absorption spectrometry can be utilised to facilitate faster analysis while reducing operational costs.
The ICE 3500 atomic absorption spectrometer is a permanently aligned, true dual atomiser enabling rapid switching between flame and furnace methods without user intervention, resulting in improved productivity.
The instrument offers both Deuterium and Zeeman background correction for guaranteed performance and flexible interference-free furnace analysis.
The integrated furnace autosampler also speeds up analysis by automatically preparing working standards from a single master standard and adds matrix modifiers to samples prior to analysis.
The Graphite Furnace Television (GFTV) furnace vision system offers high-definition images of the events taking place inside the graphite furnace cuvette for optimised sample deposition and method development.
Concurrent operation of the furnace and autosampler sampling procedures minimises the overall furnace cycle, while the high precision, double beam optics of the ICE 3500 provide low detection limits and analytical stability.
