Advantages and Disadvantages of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) is a scientific process where you can determine the elemental composition of a substance by analyzing the frequency of light of a vaporized substance. This scientific method can be applied in different industries, giving extreme benefits to them. For instance, you can use AAS in medical, agricultural, and environmental fields.

But even with the different applications of AAS, this method still has some limitations. This article will discuss five total advantages and disadvantages of atomic absorption spectroscopy.

Advantages of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

This beneficial scientific method is used in many fields, which indicates the presence of advantages in AAS. In the food industry, this can be used to determine safe products for consumption. Besides that, below are some of the advantages of AAS.

1. Extremely Sensitive

AAS is a very sensitive method for detection as it can measure as far as the parts per billion of a gram in a substance. Because of this, it has become a revolutionary method because it changed how certain practices are implemented in all fields. Because of its sensitivity, AAS can be used in medicine to detect traces of toxin levels in the atmosphere and medications.

2. An Inexpensive Method

Another great benefit of Agilent atomic absorption spectroscopy is that it is extremely cost-efficient to implement in different professional fields. Because of its high value in fields such as medicine and agriculture, AAS can continue to be used because of its cheap value. This is possible because AAS commonly utilizes less argon than other methods, which makes it cheaper.

3. Highly Accurate Technique

Atomic absorption spectroscopy is a very beneficial technique to be used for determining different substances because of the accuracy that it provides. AAS is one of the most accurate methods used in different fields. This scientific technique usually has rates of 0.5-5%, with even better results if the correct standards are utilized.

Disadvantages of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

While atomic absorption spectroscopy has many advantages that are extremely helpful in many scenarios, this scientific method still contains some limitations and downsides that are worth considering. Below are some of the disadvantages of AAS.

1. The Equipment Can Be Costly

While atomic absorption spectroscopy can be an inexpensive method compared to others because of the lack of use in argon. The fact that it requires different types of instruments before you can create the entire device also means that these parts are more expensive.

2. Low Versatility

Another downside of atomic absorption spectroscopy is its lack of versatility. Most atomic absorption spectroscopy fields are specifically known for testing liquids rather than solids. These fields use AAS with liquids because this method requires the substance to be vaporized before it is analyzed.

Liquids are better suited for vaporization than solids, which take longer or cannot be dissolved. But certain methods allow solid substances to be tested with AAS. These techniques are also disadvantaged because you cannot use these on non-metals.

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Is Useful

Although AAS still has some downsides that cannot be removed, this scientific technique also has some very great advantages, which make this method often used in different fields. Atomic absorption spectroscopy is a process that can be used in fields such as medicine, agriculture, forensics, and many more.