Chemists at St. Petersburg State University (SPbSU) have presented an innovative scheme for the rapid determination of heavy metal content in vegetable oils. The method is simple, highly accurate, and low in cost, making it promising for use in the food industry and environmental research.
Traditionally, the analysis of heavy metals requires complex sample preparation, including heating and the use of expensive reagents. Scientists at St. Petersburg State University have proposed an alternative—the use of highly purified acetone, which stabilizes the sample without additional heat treatment. The resulting solution is immediately analyzed using atomic emission spectrometry, which speeds up the process and reduces the risk of errors.
The method has already been successfully tested on corn and olive oils, showing high efficiency in detecting six dangerous metals. According to the researchers, the method is easily adaptable to industrial scales—the key condition is the use of a shaker for uniform mixing of samples. During the study, equipment provided by the resource center "Methods for Analyzing the Composition of Matter" of the St. Petersburg State University Science Park was used.
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