Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) is a spectroanalytical procedure for the
quantitative determination of chemical elements using the absorption of optical
radiation (light) by free atoms in the gaseous state.
In analytical chemistry the technique is used for
determining the concentration of a particular element (the analyte) in a sample
to be analyzed. AAS can be used to determine over 70 different elements in
solution or directly in solid samples used in pharmacology, biophysics and toxicology research.
Atomic absorption spectroscopy was first used as an
analytical technique, and the underlying principles were established in the
second half of the 19th century by Robert Wilhelm
Bunsen and Gustav Robert
Kirchhoff, both professors at the University of
Heidelberg, Germany.[1]
The modern form of AAS was largely developed during
the 1950s by a team of Australian chemists. They were led by Sir Alan Walsh at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation (CSIRO), Division of Chemical Physics, inMelbourne, Australia.
Atomic absorption spectrometry has many uses in different areas of
chemistry such as:
·
Clinical
analysis: Analyzing metals in biological fluids and tissues such as whole
blood, plasma, urine, saliva, brain tissue, liver, muscle tissue, semen
·
Pharmaceuticals:
In some pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, minute quantities of a catalyst
that remain in the final drug product
·
Water
analysis: Analyzing water for its metal content.
