Merging zones standard addition technique for determination of copper in beer by flow injection atomic absorption spectrophotometry

A flow injection system for determination of copper in beer by atomic absorption spectrophotometry by the standard additions method is described. The manifold, based on the merging zone technique, prevents the burner head from clogging, as observed with the conventional reference method. With 5 standard additions, results are comparable with those of the reference method. Relative deviations were less than 5.8%, precision was better than 6.4%, and sampling rate was about 30 samples/h. A less precise, less accurate, but faster procedure (75 samples/h) is possible with only 2 standard additions. The detection limit was 5 μg/L.