determination of copper-based fungicides by flame atomic absorption spectrometry using digestion procedure with sulfuric and nitric acid

Copper-based fungicides can be effectively digested by treatment with a mixture of concentrated sulfuric and nitric acid in exactly 15 minutes for the rapid determination via copper using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Under optimum conditions, the results of copper fungicide analysis were consistent to those obtained by the AOAC’s recommended method. Recovery values ranged from 98.63 to 103.40%. Relative standard deviation values are lower than 2%. The proposed digestion procedure applied for determination of copper ranged from 100 to 594 g Cu kg-1 in different commercial fungicideproducts.