Speciation of chromium and its distribution in tea leaves and tea infusion using titanium dioxide nanotubes packed microcolumn coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Titanium dioxide nanotubes (TDNTs) were used as a solid phase extraction adsorbent for chromium species by a packed microcolumn coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), including total, suspended and soluble chromium as well as Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in tea leaves and tea infusion. The experimental results indicated that Cr(III) was quantitatively retained on TDNTs in the pH range of 5.0–8.0, while Cr(VI) remained in the solution. The total chromium was determined after reducing Cr(VI) to Cr(III). The concentration of Cr(VI) is calculated by the difference between total chromium and Cr(III). Under optimal conditions, the detection limits of this method were 0.0075 ng mL−1 for Cr(III). The relative standard deviation was 3.8% (n = 9, c = 1.0 ng mL−1). This method was applied for the analysis of the speciation of chromium and its distribution and content in tea leaves, tea infusion and a certified reference material of tea leaves with satisfactory results.