Arsenic contamination of palm oil is of great concern due to its carcinogenic effects. Most soils contain some arsenic, generally at low levels of 1 to 50 mg kg-1. However, industrial wastes and pesticides may contain more, and their disposal/application will contaminate the environment. Unpublished data obtained from a laboratory in the European Union (EU) showed that Malaysian palm kernel cake (PKC) has 0.5 to 4.5 mg kg-1 arsenic. Microwave digestion technique is widely used in analytical chemistry. It is simpler than the conventional digestion, uses less reagents and is less prone to contamination and complete digestion. Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GFAAS) was therefore attempted for total determination of arsenic in PKC.

Main Research: Abdul Niefaizal Abdul Hammid