Determination of Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Sr, and Ti in Sparkler Candles by MIP OES

Composed of an oxidizer, fuel, metallic powders, and binders, sparkler candles are widely used on birthdays and celebrations. A procedure for the determination of Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Sr, and Ti in sparkler candles by microwave plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP OES) was developed to evaluate the presence of potentially toxic elements. Different commercial candles were analyzed before and after ignition. Moreover, the remainder analytes were determined on the surface where the ignition was carried out. Based on a Box-Behnken experiment, the optimized digestion conditions were 5.0 mol L −1 HNO 3 and 35-min digestion time at 80 °C. Commercial candles analyzed before ignition present mass fractions ranging from 0.37 to 7.95% m m −1 Al, 16.73 to 26.00% m m −1 Ba, 5.68 to 16.91 mg kg −1 Cd, 21.01 to 475.08 mg kg −1 Cr, 134.72 to 11,738.51 mg kg −1 Cu, 0.31 to 21.41% m m −1 Fe, 58.89 to 12,973.00 mg kg −1 Sr, and 22.22 to 6,450.04 mg kg −1 Ti. The recovery of the procedure, evaluated by spike experiments of the digested samples, presented results between 82 and 118%, with RSD < 20%. Health risk assessment was performed, and parameters as estimated daily intake ( EDI ), total hazard quotient ( THQ ), and hazard index ( HI ) were considered. According to the results, sparkler candles are potential contamination sources regarding human health when they are not used correctly.