Direct solid sample analysis of low-cost jewelry using spectroanalytical techniques: exploratory chemical data evaluation and metal migration with synthetic sweat

Abstract

Humans have used jewelry for a long time. Initially, this habit had religious purposes for individual protection, then it became a compliment accessory to noble appearance until its popularization with production using cheaper and potentially toxic chemical elements. Therefore, the health of people of low social status has been compromised in such a way that a big part of the metals present in these accessories are potentially toxic. In this regard, with the proposition of legislation limiting these elements' concentrations, several analytical techniques have been used to study their determinations; laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) direct analysis of solids has been highlighted in the past years due to many advantages in several areas. In this study, LIBS and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) were implemented in low-cost jewelry analyses. Then, an exploratory data analysis was carried out using chemometric tools. Finally, the migration of these elements to synthetic sweat was studied to verify its contact with human organisms, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) was employed for the determination of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, and Zn.