On-line preconcentration/determination of copper in parenteral solutions using activated carbon by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

A method for the on-line preconcentration of copper using a minicolumn packed with activated carbon and its subsequent determination by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) coupled with flow injection (FI) was studied. In order to determinate the copper concentration present in parenteral solutions; it was retained on activated carbon (AC) at pH 9.5. A sensitivity enrichment factor of 30-fold was obtained with respect to the copper determination by ICP-OES without preconcentration. The detection limit for the preconcentration of 25 ml of sample was 0.1 microgl(-1). The precision for the ten replicate determinations at the 2.5 microgl(-1) Cu level was 3.0% relative standard deviation (R.S.D.), calculated with the peak heights. The calibration graph using the preconcentration method for cooper species was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9996 at levels near the detection limits up to at least 200 microgl(-1). The method was successfully applied to the determination of copper in parenteral solutions.