Determination of trimethylselenonium ion by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry Original Research Article

A simple direct flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometric method was developed using sodium tetrahydroborate and hydrochloric acid for the determination of trimethylselenonium (TmSe) iodide which excluded any chemical pretreatment prior to hydride generation. The detection limit (2σ of blank) of the method was 1.0 ng ml−1 selenium and the sensitivity was 0.15 ng ml−1. The calibration graph was linear up to 30 ng ml−1. The recoveries from tap water and urine varied with dilution, being 89–95% from tap water at 1 : 11 dilution, and 50–58% from urine at 1 : 50 dilution.