Direct ICP-MS determination of trace and ultratrace elements in geological materials after decomposition in a microwave oven. Part II. Quantitation of Ba, Cs, Ga, Hf, In, Mo, Nb, Pb, Rb, Sn, Sr, Ta and Tl

A new method has been developed for the rapid determination of traces of Ba, Cs, Ga, Hf, In, Mo, Nb, Pb, Rb, Sn, Sr, Ta and Tl in silicate rocks and lake, stream and river sediments. The method involved dissolution of samples in a microwave oven by heating in a pressure decomposition Teflon vessel with a mixture of HF + HNO₃ + HCl + H₃BO₃ + EDTA followed by direct multielement determination using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP/MS). The method is faster than conventional dissolution of samples by open vessel acid digestion and fusion and determination by instrumental methods. The accuracy and precision of the developed method were tested by replicate analyses of a number of international geochemical reference samples of established trace element contents. Satisfactory correlation with the “recommended” or “consensus” values was found and recoveries were in most cases 95–100%. New values for Ga, In, Nb and Tl in several international geochemical reference materials are first reported in this paper.     

Determination of tin and titanium in soils, sediments and sludges using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with slurry sample introduction

Fast-heating programmes for determining titanium and tin in soils, sediments and sludges using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) with slurry sampling are developed. For titanium determination, suspensions are prepared by weighing 5-40 mg of sample and adding 25 ml of a solution containing 50% (v/v) concentrated hydrofluoric acid. For tin determination, suspensions are prepared by weighing up to 300 mg of sample and then adding 1 ml of a solution containing 25% (v/v) concentrated hydrofluoric acid. Palladium (30 μg) and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (7% w/v) are used as matrix modifiers for titanium and tin, respectively. Prior mild heating in a microwave oven is recommended for titanium determination. Calibration is carried out using aqueous standards. The tin and titanium contents of a number of samples obtained by using the slurry approach agree with those obtained by means of a procedure based on the total dissolution of the samples using microwave oven digestion. The reliability of the procedures is also confirmed by analysing several certified reference materials.     

Atomic Emission Analysis of Human Nails for the Content of Trace Elements

To obtain data on the concentrations of trace elements in a human body, different biological samples are used; however, nails have some advantages. An optimized procedure is developed for the acid mineralization of human nails for the subsequent determination of trace elements therein by arc atomic emission spectrometry with excitation of a spectrum of a dry mineralization residue from the end of a carbon electrode. A mixture of conc. HNO₃ (1 mL) and conc. H₂O₂ (0.1 mL) was shown to be an optimum reagent for the decomposition of a nail sample with a weight of 0.1 g. The efficiency and process features of acid decomposition upon heating on a plate and in a microwave oven were compared. Seventy three nail samples were analyzed for the contents of Ag, Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn according to the developed procedure. The calculated statistically average contents and concentration ranges of the above-mentioned elements were compared with data of other publications.     

Determination of rare-earth elements and yttrium in silicate rocks by sequential inductively-coupled plasma emission spectrometry

An ICP—AES method for determination of rare-earth elements (REE) and yttrium at trace levels in silicate rocks is described. The method involves decomposition of the rock sample by heating with a mixture of hydrofluoric and perchloric acid, followed by precipitation of the REE and Y as oxalates, with calcium as carrier. The oxalate precipitate is ignited to the oxide, which is then dissolved in dilute nitric acid and the solution is used for ICP—AES measurements, with use of pure REE solutions as calibration standards. The method has been applied to the determination of REE in a number of standard reference materials and the results have been compared with the reported values. Three other silicate rock samples have also been analysed for REE and Y by this method.     

Determination de l'etain dans les sediments et les boues de stations d'epuration par spectrometrie d'absorption atomique avec generation d'hydruresDetermination of tin in sediments and sewage sludges by atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation.

The conditions for the determination of tin in sediments and sewage sludges by atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation are evaluated. Hydride generation is achieved in a 0.4 M nitric acid/0.2 tartaric acid solution. The effects of hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric and hydrofluoric acids are discussed. Matrix effect and interferences from other trace elements are studied. Seven sample decomposition procedures are compared. Refluxing with a (1 + 3) niric acid/hydrochloric acid mixture was the preferred procedure for decomposing such samples.     

Slurry sampling for the rapid determination of cobalt, nickel and copper in soils and sediments by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Electrothermal atomic absorption procedures for the rapid determination of cobalt, nickel and copper in soil and sediment samples are presented. The samples are suspended in a hydrofluoric acid solution before being injected into the electrothermal atomizer. Prior mild heating in a microwave oven is recommended for nickel and copper determination. No modifier other than hydrofluoric acid is required. The conventional ashing step is unnecessary since the fast-heating programmes lead to well defined atomization profiles with low background levels that can be corrected using a common deuterium device. Calibration is performed directly using aqueous standards. The results obtained for six certified reference materials confirm the reliability of the procedures.     

微波溶样ICP-MS直接测定茶叶中15种痕量稀土元素

本文报道用ＨＮＯ３－Ｈ２Ｏ２微波溶样，不经分离富集，用标准加入ＩＣＰ－ＭＳ法，直接测定茶叶中１５种痕量稀土元素．对微波溶样和等离子体质谱测定条件进行了优化选择．在最佳实验条件下，用本法测定了国家一级茶叶标准物质ＧＢＷ０７６０５中的单一稀土元素，测得值与标准值很好吻合     

Determination of traces of rare earth elements in geological samples

A procedure for the determination of traces of rare earth elements by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) is presented. The samples are decomposed either by fusion with lithium tetraborate or by acid attack in a microwave oven. Separation of the rare earth elements from accompanying elements is achieved by anion exchange. For the determination by ICP-OES the samples are injected in hydrochloric acid solution, for the determination by XRF the rare earth element traces are co-precipitated with rhodizonate and tannin and measured as a thin film on a membrane filter. All preconcentration steps have been optimized and tested using radiotracers. Furthermore the rare earth element contents of some international standard reference rocks have been determined; the results are compared to the certified values and other values given in the literature. The procedure is applied to a series of petrographically identical metabasites with different degrees of metamorphism to show the mobility of those ions under metamorphic conditions.     

Direct ICP-MS determination of trace and ultratrace elements in geological materials after decomposition in a microwave oven. I. Quantitation of Y, Th, U and the lanthanides

A microwave digestion technique using a mixture of HF + HNO(3) + HCl + H(3)BO(3) was found to be effective for the rapid dissolution of various silicate rock and sediment reference samples. From the solutions thus prepared, it was possible to determine quantitatively trace and ultratrace amounts of yttrium, thorium, uranium and the lanthanides by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) without any separation of matrix elements or preconcentration. In the ICP-MS determinations, oxide and non-spectral interferences on individual masses of the rare earth element ions were corrected by the method of algebraic approach of elimination and dilution, respectively, and measurement drift was controlled by ruthenium and rhenium internal standards. The method yielded excellent results comparable with "recommended", "consensus" and "working" values of the literature for the specified elements on various well-known international reference materials such as andesite (AGV-1), basalts (BCR-1, BHVO-1, BIR-1 and BE-N), granites (G-2 and NIM-G), syenite (SY-2), gabbro (MRG-1), diabase (W-2 and DNC-1), marine mud (MAG-1), river sediment (NBS 1645), lake sediments (LKSD-1-LKSD-4) and stream sediment (GSD-1, GSD-5, GSD-6 and STSD-1-STSD-4)). New values for Er, Gd, Ho, Pr and Tm in LKSD-1-LKSD-4 and STSD-1-STSD-4, and Er, Ho, Lu, Nd, Pr, Tb, Tm and Yb in NBS 1645 are first reported in this work.     

Microwave digestion of bottom sediments from Lake Baikal for the inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometric determination of their elemental composition

A microwave digestion procedure with the use of specially designed autoclaves and a domestic microwave oven is proposed for the mass-spectrometric determination of the elemental composition of bottom sediments. The throughput of sample preparation in routine analysis was considerably increased because of the elimination of a purification step. Reaction mixture compositions and microwave digestion conditions were chosen to reach complete decomposition (within the limits of error of semiquantitative ICP MS analysis) of Baikal bottom sediments with respect to the majority of elements. It was found that the procedure is unsuitable for the determination of Sn, Zr, Nb, Hf, As, and Sb. The approximate concentrations of elements in a BIL-1 certified reference material of Baikal bottom sediments were found: Tl, 0.52 ± 0.16 ppm; Bi, 0.33 ± 0.10 ppm; I, 14.3 ± 4.3 ppm; Cd, 0.31 ± 0.09 ppm; and Pb, 0.24 ± 0.07 ppm.     

Rapid decomposition method for silicate samples

Summary This paper describes a rapid dissolution method for silicate samples such as soils and sediments. 0.1–0.2 g sample was decomposed with HNO₃/H₂O₂/HF acid mixture in a PTFE digestion vessel by using microwave heating for 3 min at 500 W of microwave power. The solution, to which 0.5 g of boric acid was added, was diluted to 50 ml and then filtered. Nine elements in the filtrate were determined by sequential ICP-AES. The accuracy of this procedure was validated by analyzing three SRMs for soil and sediment. All results were in good agreement with the certified values.

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Schneller Aufschluß von Silicatproben

     

ICP-MS法测定鼠脊髓液中超痕量镧、铈、镨和钕

采用ＮＨＯ３＋ＨＣｌＯ４混合酸溶样,感耦等离子体－质谱（ＩＣＰ－ＭＳ）直接测定鼠脊髓液中Ｌａ、Ｃｅ、Ｐｒ和Ｎｄ,对等离子体质谱测定条件进行了最佳化选择。选用铼（Ｒｅ）内标可补偿基体影响和仪器漂移。方法检出限为７．６－２０．３ｎｇ／Ｌ,加标试验回收率为９４％－１０２％,相对标准偏差（ＲＳＤ）为２．１％－３．７％。     

APDC沉淀分离富集石墨炉原子吸收测定海水和生物样品中铅,镉,钴,铜,锡,砷和钼

我们曾研究一种新的分离富集方法,即在酸性水溶液中加入吡咯烷二硫代甲酸铵(APDC)沉淀镍后,将Ni-PDC溶于甲基异丁酮(MIBK)中,有机相直接进样石墨炉原子吸收测定尿和生物样品中痕量镍.本工作将此方法扩大应用于海水和生物样品中铅、镉、钴、铜、锡、砷和钼     

A clean up step of fat content previous to trace metal characterization in mussel tissues by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis of trace and major elements of mussel tissues can be quickly and accurately analyzed after cleaning up the interfering fat content before the sample is digested in a microwave oven. Making use of experimental designs, the clean up procedure was achieved by the extraction of 1 g of freeze-dried tissue sample stirred with 5 ml of dichloromethane during five minutes. The microwave assisted digestion of the fat free samples was carried out with 0.2 g of tissue sample, 15 ml of 7.0% nitric acid with a power of 980 W during 18 min. The analytical method efficiency (accuracy and precision) was evaluated with a CRM: (NIST 2977, mussel tissue) and real mussel samples analyzed previously. The results confirmed the accuracy of the analysis by agreement with the previous results but the precision was significantly improved. The developed method allows operating routinely permitting to large numbers of samples to be quickly screened for trace metals.     

The use of dithizone extraction and atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of cadmium,zinc, copper,nickel and cobalt in rocks and sediments

A method is presented for the determination of cadmium, zinc, copper, nickel and cobalt in sediments. The sediments are digested with hydrofluoric, sulphuric and perchloric acids. The metals are extracted into dithizone. Cadmium and zinc are back-extracted into dilute hydrochloric acid, but the other metals are determined in a solution prepared after the destruction of the organic extract. The method has been applied to USGS rock reference samples and to estuarine sediments.     

微波消解-原子吸收光谱法连续测定仿真饰品中铅镉镍含量

采用HNO3-HF-HCl酸体系消解样品,火焰原子吸收光谱法连续测定非金属材质仿真饰品中的铅、镉和镍。优化了仪器工作参数和消解条件,进行了共存离子的干扰试验。方法检出限分别为铅5.7 mg/kg、镉0.3 mg/kg、镍3.5 mg/kg。实际样品测定的相对标准偏差(n=6)为1.6%～5.2%,回收率为86.0%～105.8%。     

微波消解-电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法同时测定土壤中主次金属元素

建立微波消解-电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法同时测定土壤中多种主次元素的分析方法。采用硝酸-氢氟酸-双氧水体系在微波消解仪中消解土壤样品,待消解完成后加入高氯酸驱赶氢氟酸,盐酸溶解盐类物质,将土壤中所有元素的矿物晶格破坏使待测溶液全部进入试液,采用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱进行测定。通过筛选合适分析谱线和合理设置背景扣除位置提高样品分析中的精密度和准确度。选用国家土壤标准物质进行方法验证,绝大多数实验结果与标准值吻合,RSD小于5%。本方法具有同时测定土壤样品多种元素、试剂用量少、操作简单等优点,表明该方法适合大批量土壤中主次元素的快速检测。     

Fluorimetric determination of uranium in certain refractory minerals,environmental samples and industrial waste materials

Summary A simple sample decomposition and laser fluorimetric determination of uranium at trace level is reported in certain refractory minerals, like ilmenite, rutile, zircon and monazite; environmental samples viz. soil and sediments; industrial waste materials, such as, coal fly ash and red mud. Ilmenite sample is decomposed by heating with ammonium fluoride. Rutile, zircon and monazite minerals are decomposed by fusion using a mixture of potassium bifluoride and sodium fluoride. Environmental and industrial waste materials are brought into solution by treating with a mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acids. The laser induced fluorimetric determination of uranium is carried out directly in rutile, zircon and in monazite minerals and after separation in other samples. The determination limit was 1 μg ^. g^-1 for ilmenite, soil, sediment, coal fly ash and red mud samples, and it is 5 μg ^. g^-1 for rutile, zircon and monazite. The method is also developed for the optical fluorimetric determination of uranium (determination limit 10 μg ^. g^-1) in ilmenite, rutile, zircon and monazite minerals. The methods are simple, accurate, and precise and they require small quantity of sample and can be applied for the routine analysis.     

Ion-exchange separation and atomic-absorption determination of fifteen major, minor and trace elements in silicates

A scheme of ion-exchange separation of fifteen elements (major, minor and trace) determined mainly by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry (Ti by colorimetry) is applied to rock, mineral and ceramic analysis. Mn, Cu, Co, Fe and Zn are separated on an anion-exchanger and Li, Na, K, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ti, Al, Ni and Ba on a cation-exchanger. The method has been tested by analysis of a synthetic mixture of the fifteen ions in the ratios in common rock samples, and of various international standards (100-mg samples).     

微波消解-ICP-AES法测定茶叶中微量元素

在微波消解器中,以ＨＮＯ３－ＨＣｌＯ４分解茶叶,然后用ＩＣＰ－ＡＥＳ法测定样品溶液中的Ｂａ,Ｃａ,Ｃｕ,Ｆｅ,Ｍｎ,Ｐｂ,Ｚｎ,本法简便快速,污染少,回收率为９０．２％￣１０６．３％,相对标准偏差为１．７％￣６．２％。