In this research, a new sample treatment technique termed solvent-assisted dispersive solid phase
extraction (SA-DSPE) was developed. The new method was based on the dispersion of the sorbent into
the sample to maximize the contact surface. In this approach, the dispersion of the sorbent at a very
low milligram level was achieved by injecting a mixture solution of the sorbent and disperser solvent into
the aqueous sample. Thereby, a cloudy solution formed. The cloudy solution resulted from the dispersion
of the fine particles of the sorbent in the bulk aqueous sample. After extraction, the cloudy solution was
centrifuged and the enriched analytes in the sediment phase dissolved in ethanol and determined by
flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limit for lead
and cadmium ions was 1.2 lg L1 and 0.2 lg L1
, respectively. Furthermore, the preconcentration factor
was 299.3 and 137.1 for cadmium and lead ions, respectively. SA-DSPE was successfully applied for trace
determination of lead and cadmium in fruit (Citrus limetta, Kiwi and pomegranate) and water samples.
Finally, the introduced sample preparation method can be used as a simple, rapid, reliable, selective
and sensitive method for flame atomic absorption spectrophotometric determination of trace levels of
lead and cadmium ions in fruit and water samples.