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Abstract

Al, Fe, Mn and Zn were determined in two different species of woodlouse: Porcellio scaber and Porcellio dilatatus. Both species were cultivated under standardized conditions in a climatic chamber. Moreover, skins of the cultivated animals were collected and analyzed separately to examine a possible way of decontamination by moulting. To obtain enough sample material for each species, 15 animals of the same age and size were pooled. For skin analysis, 10-12 skins were collected and pooled. The animals and their skins were dried, ground and digested in pure concentrated nitric acid using multiwave-assisted high-pressure digestion and, finally, analyzed by ICP-OES. Special emphasis was given to quality control: the reference materials Dorm-2, Dogfish Muscle (Squalus acanthias) and SRM 1577b Bovine Liver, were used to evaluate the whole analytical process including sample digestion. These reference materials of animal origin were selected to match the matrix of the samples as closely as possible. While concentrations of Fe, Mn and Zn were traced to both reference materials, the concentration of Al was checked by Dorm-2 only. Analyses of the elements in the reference materials were carried out using four different wavelengths for each element simultaneously, aiming at the determination of the best suited wavelength for each element. Analyses of woodlouse samples and their skins were finally carried out using the wavelengths with the highest sensitivities after absence of spectral interferences had been demonstrated. [References: 18]