Abstract:Two methods based on microwave digestion - inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and microwave digestion - atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) were established for the determination of cadmium in gen-seng. Optimized microwave digestion conditions, and instrument working conditions were obtained for the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and microwave digestion. The results showed that the linear calibration range of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was 0 ~ 100 μg/L and detection limit is 0.162 μg/L with the relative standard deviation of 2.5%. The linear calibration range of atomic absorption method was 0 ~ 20 μg/L, the detection limit is 0.305 μg/L, and the relative standard deviation 3.1%. The methods were verified using the national standard samples. The results show that the two methods have the advantages of simple operation with high accuracy and precision making these suitable for analysis requirements.