Anodic and cathodic stripping voltammetry in the simultaneous determination of toxic metals in environmental samples

Differential pulse anodic and cathodic stripping voltammetry have been employed for the simultaneous determination of As III , Se IV Cu II , Pb II and Cd II in environmental matrices. The voltammetric measurements were carried out using a conventional three‐electrode cell and the ammonia‐ammonium chloride buffer (pH 9.2) as supporting electrolyte. The analytical procedure was verified by the analysis of the standard reference materials: Mussel Tissue BCR‐CRM 278 and Ulva Lactuca BCR‐CRM 279. The precision and the accuracy, expressed as relative standard deviation ( s r ) and relative error ( e ), respectively, were of the order of 3 to 5%, while the detection limit for each element, under the experimental conditions employed, was around 10 −9 M.