Closed-vessel microwave digestion technique for lichens and leaves prior to determination of trace elements (Pb,Zn, Cu) and stable Pb isotope ratios

A reliable and robust procedure using closed-vessel microwave digestion of lichens and leaves for precise and accurate determination of trace elements (Pb, Zn and Cu) and stable Pb isotope ratios is presented. The method was developed using certified reference material CRM 482 Pseudovernia furfurea (Lichens), NIST 1515 (Apple Leaves) and NIST 1547 (Peach Leaves) and tested on lichens from a mining site in Russia. A mixture of 3?mL of HNO₃, 3?mL of H₂O₂, 2?mL of H₂O and 0.8?mL of HF ensured complete sample dissolution with 100?±?5% recovery for Pb, Zn and Cu at a maximum temperature of 210°C and pressure of 350?psi. The amount of HF and microwave pressure significantly influenced Pb, Zn and Cu recovery. Comparison between EMMA-XRF and ICP-AES showed a good correlation between Pb, Zn and Cu concentrations. Using the newly developed digestion method, Pb isotopes in lichens from the mining site were determined with an internal precision better than 0.02%.     

A Sequential Extraction Method Measures the Toxic Metal Content in Fly Ash from a Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator

The purpose of this research was to develop an optimized pretreatment procedure for toxic metals (Pb, Cd, Zn and Cu) content in fly ash from a municipal waste incinerator. In addition, modified sequential extraction procedures were used to characterize the chemical composition of the fly ash samples. The sequential extraction resolved the fly ash elements into the following chemical forms: soluble, exchangeable, carbonate, oxide, organic, and silicate compounds. Certified reference city waste incineration ash (BCR.176) was used as target ash samples. A H₂O₂+HNO₃+HF mixed acid digestion solution with a low temperature evaporation procedure was selected as optimal for the fly ash digestion. The digested solution was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS), which effectively determined the concentrations of the toxic metal elements in BCR.176. Except for Cd, the recovery of Pb, Zn, and Cu under H₂O₂+HNO₃+HF digestion and their sequential extraction procedures were higher than 95%. The relative standard deviations (RSD) for recoveries of the four elements were within 10%. Furthermore, the sequential extraction procedure's results provided information on the potential mobility of the studied elements. Most of the Cd was bound to water‐soluble and carbonate material in the fly ash samples. Most of the Pb, Zn, and Cu was released to carbonates and bound to organic matter in the fly ash samples.     

Comparison of open microwave digestion and digestion by conventional heating for the determination of Cd, Cr, Cu and Pb in algae using transverse heated electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A comparison between open microwave digestion and digestion by conventional heating was carried out for the determination of Cd, Cr, Cu, and Pb in two algae matrices using transverse heated electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). A SRM GBW 08504 cabbage was also analysed. These matrices were digested with HNO₃, using a quartz vessel for microwave digestion and PFA vessel for digestion by conventional heating. Cd, Cu and Cr were determined without any modifier, while magnesium nitrate and ammonium phosphate mixed modifier was used for Pb. Results obtained by both the procedures were in good agreement with each other at 95% confidence level, and for SRM GBW 08504 cabbage the values agree well with the certified values. The limits of detection obtained were 0.0004, 0.060, 0.065 and 0.054 mg/kg for Cd, Cr, Cu, and Pb, respectively, using the microwave digestion process. The RSD for Cd was 10–15% and for the other elements 5–10%.     

Determination of metal concentrations in lichen samples by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy technique after applying different digestion procedures

Three digestion procedures have been tested on lichen samples for application in the determination of major, minor and trace elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, V and Zn) in lichen samples collected in Aegean Region of Turkey by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES). The acid mixture of concentrated HNO₃, H₂O₂ and HF were used. The instrument was optimized using lichen matrix considering RF power, nebulizer pressure, auxiliary flow rate and pump rate. The accuracy of the overall analyses was first estimated by analysis of two certified reference materials. Good agreement between measured and reference values were found for almost all elements. As the second way of determining the accuracy, results obtained from independent analytical techniques (ICP-AES and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA)) were compared for all elements by analyzing real samples. Correlation coefficients of two techniques for the elements ranged between 0.70 (Mg) and 0.96 (Fe). Among the three digestion systems, namely microwave, open vessel and acid bomb, microwave digestion system gave the best recovery results. The method detection limit (MDL) was computed using reagent blanks of microwave digestion system since it provides cleaner sample preparation. Detection limit is adequate for all elements to determine the elements in lichen samples. The precision was assessed from the replicate analyses of reagent blanks of microwave digestion system and was found to be less than 1.5% relative standard deviation (R.S.D.).     

Ultraviolet photolysis assisted mineralization and determination of trace levels of Cr, Cd, Cu, Sn, and Pb in isosulfan blue by ICP-MS

Isosulfan blue dye is used in sentinel node mapping technique to evaluate breast cancer patients where determination of different trace elements is required. A UV-photolysis assisted mineralization of isosulfan blue is described here for the determination of trace elements (Cr, Cd, Cu, Sn and Pb) by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). In the present study advanced oxidation processes such as UV, UV/H₂O₂, and UV/H₂O₂/HNO₃ have been assessed and compared for the degradation and mineralization of isosulfan blue dye. The extent of mineralization was determined on the basis of total organic carbon (TOC) measurement. The adopted procedure (UV/HNO₃/H₂O₂) provided very low TOC content (0.5%), corresponding to a mineralization efficiency of > 99%. With the present procedure, the use of dynamic reaction cell (DRC) or collision cell was not required for chromium determination which suffers interference from the presence of carbon. Method detection limits were 0.0028, 0.0021, 0.016, 0.007, and 0.005 μg g^? 1 for Cr, Cd, Cu, Sn and Pb respectively. The values obtained by the proposed method were cross-validated by those obtained by ETAAS analysis. The expanded uncertainties in the measurement at 95% confidence level (coverage factor 2) are in the range of 13.7–25.8%.     

Determination of metals in marine species by microwave digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis

A microwave digestion method suitable for determination of multiple elements in marine species was developed, with the use of cold vapor atomic spectrometry for the detection of Hg, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for all of the other elements. An optimized reagent mixture composed of 2 ml of HNO₃, 2 ml of H₂O₂ and 0.3 ml of HF used in microwave digestion of about 0.15 g (dry weight) of sample was found to give the best overall recoveries of metals in two standard reference materials. In the oyster tissue standard reference material (SRM 1566b), recoveries of Na, Al, K, V, Co, Zn, Se, Sr, Ag, Cd, Ni, and Pb were between 90% and 110%; Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu, As, and Ba recoveries were between 85% and 90%; Hg recovery was 81%; and Ca recovery was 64%. In a dogfish certified reference material (DORM-2), the recoveries of Al, Cr, Mn, Se, and Hg were between 90% and 110%; Ni, Cu, Zn, and As recoveries were about 85%; and Fe recovery was 112%. Method detection limits of the elements were established. Metal concentrations in flounder, scup, and blue crab samples collected from coastal locations around Long Island and in the Hudson River estuary were determined.     

The role of different soil sample digestion methods on trace elements analysis: a comparison of ICP-MS and INAA measurement results

The measurement of trace-element concentration in soil, sediment and waste, is generally a combination of a digestion procedure for dissolution of elements and a subsequent measurement of the dissolved elements. “Partial” and “total” digestion methods can be used in environmental monitoring activities. To compare measurement results obtained by different methods, it is crucial to determine and to maintain control of the bias of the results obtained by these methods. In this paper, ICP-MS results obtained after matrix digestion with modified aqua regia (HCl+HNO₃+H₂O₂) method and two “total” digestion methods (microwave aqua regia+HF and HNO₃+HF) are compared with those obtained by instrumental neutron activation analysis, a non-destructive analytical method for the determination of the total mass concentrations of inorganic components in environmental matrices. The comparison was carried out on eight agricultural soil samples collected in one test area and measured by k₀-INAA and ICP-MS to determine As, Co, Cr, Sb and Zn mass concentration. The bias of results for As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb and Zn of the three digestion methods were assessed using selected measurement standards. This paper highlights that the digestion procedure is an integral part of the measurement and can affect the measurement result in environmental analysis.     

Trace element analysis in CRM of plant origin by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Three CRMs of plant origin (SRM 1515 Apple Leaves, SRM 1570a Trace Elements in Spinach Leaves, and SRM 1575 Pine Needles) were used for analytical quality assurance of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Cd, and Pb determination by ICP-MS. The samples were decomposed using microwave assisted pressurized digestion by HNO₃ and HNO₃ + H₂O₂ mixture and temperature programmed dry ashing. Concentrations of elements in samples were evaluated by external calibration. All samples, blanks, and standards were spiked to 100 μg/L concentration of In and Bi as internal standards. During the measurement, signals of ⁵²Cr, ⁵³Cr, ⁵⁴Fe, ⁵⁵Mn, ⁵⁹Co, ⁶⁰Ni, ⁶²Ni, ⁶³Cu, ⁶⁵Cu, ⁶⁶Zn, ⁹⁵Mo, ¹¹¹Cd, ¹¹²Cd, ¹¹⁵In, ²⁰⁶Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb, ²⁰⁸Pb and ²⁰⁹Bi were monitored. Results of Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Mo and Co determination were in good agreement with certified values. In order to obtain accurate results for As at low levels, it was necessary to mathematically correct the analytical signal. This correction effectively eliminates the influence of interfering ArCl⁺ ions. For Cr analysis it is advisable to use as powerful oxidizing conditions during sample decomposition as possible.     

Use of fractional factorial design for optimization of digestion procedures followed by multi-element determination of essential and non-essential elements in nuts using ICP-OES technique

Two digestion procedures have been tested on nut samples for application in the determination of essential (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn) and non-essential (Al, Ba, Cd, Pb) elements by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). These included wet digestions with HNO₃/H₂SO₄ and HNO₃/H₂SO₄/H₂O₂. The later one is recommended for better analytes recoveries (relative error < 11%). Two calibrations (aqueous standard and standard addition) procedures were studied and proved that standard addition was preferable for all analytes. Experimental designs for seven factors (HNO₃, H₂SO₄ and H₂O₂ volumes, digestion time, pre-digestion time, temperature of the hot plate and sample weight) were used for optimization of sample digestion procedures. For this purpose Plackett-Burman fractional factorial design, which involve eight experiments was adopted. The factors HNO₃ and H₂O₂ volume, and the digestion time were found to be the most important parameters. The instrumental conditions were also optimized (using peanut matrix rather than aqueous standard solutions) considering radio-frequency (rf) incident power, nebulizer argon gas flow rate and sample uptake flow rate. The analytical performance, such as limits of detection (LOD < 0.74 μg g⁻¹), precision of the overall procedures (relative standard deviation between 2.0 and 8.2%) and accuracy (relative errors between 0.4 and 11%) were assessed statistically to evaluate the developed analytical procedures. The good agreement between measured and certified values for all analytes (relative error <11%) with respect to IAEA-331 (spinach leaves) and IAEA-359 (cabbage) indicates that the developed analytical method is well suited for further studies on the fate of major elements in nuts and possibly similar matrices.     

Study on the PTFE closed-vessel microwave digestion method in food elemental analysis

Summary A closed PTFE vessel microwave digestion method is described for the HNO₃/H₂O₂ digestion of food samples. 0.2–0.3 g of powdered samples are completely digested in 44 ml PTFE digestion vessels by 2 ml of 70% HNO₃ and 1 ml of 30% H₂O₂ within 2 min at 100% full power (500 W). After air-cooling for 10 min in a refrigerator at — 25°C the digestion solution is diluted to 25ml. The total elemental concentrations of Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn are determined by sequential ICP-AES. The accuracy of the procedure was tested by analysis of 3 SRMs. The results are in good agreement with certified values.

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Untersuchung zum Mikrowellenaufschluß im geschlossenen PTFE-Gefäß für die Elementanalyse in Lebensmitteln

     

Microwave digestion of sediment, soils and urban particulate matter for trace metal analysis

A microwave digestion technique was developed to determine the content of nine heavy metals in sediments and soils. The digests were subsequently analysed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The metals determined were Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr, Cd, Cu, Pb and V. The digestion was achieved by using an acid mixture of HNO₃, HF and distilled H₂O. The experimental study was conducted using four standard reference materials (SRMs): sewage sludge (LGC6136), marine sediment (PACS-1), urban particulate matter (NIST 1648) and coal carbonisation site soil (LGC6138). Two different programs were examined to determine which was optimal for the digestion of real environmental samples. The accuracy and precision of the two digestion programs for the analysis of the SRMs were compared. From the results obtained, the microwave program providing a maximum of power of 650 W and a cycle time of 51 min resulted in the best analytical performance. The experimental results obtained were in good agreement with the certified values and demonstrated that the proposed method is precise and accurate.     

ETAAS determination of Cd and Pb in plants

Simple and rapid analytical procedures for the ETAAS determination of Cd and Pb in plant (poplar, clover, plantain) leaves are described. Optimal conditions are presented for the wet digestion of plant matrices with a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide along with optimal temperature programmes for subsequent modifier-free electrothermal determination of Cd and Pb. Slurry preparation procedures using tetramethylammonium hydroxide or a mixture of 1 mol/L HNO₃ + 1.5 mol/L H₂O₂ are proposed as another approach for rapid and accurate routine analysis of Cd and Pb in plant leaves. It has been found that single standard addition can be used for quantitative determination in the case of wet digestion ETAAS and standard addition to each analysed matrix is recommended in the case of slurry ETAAS. For all plant leaves investigated good agreement was achieved between the concentrations determined by wet digestion ETAAS and slurry ETAAS. The wet digestion method provides relative standard deviations for Cd ranging from 3% to 17% and for Pb from 2% to 16%. For the slurry method the RSD values are in the range of 4–31% for Cd and 4–30% for Pb, depending for both cases on the magnitude of the measured concentrations. Validity and versatility of the methods are verified by the analyses of standard reference materials. Received: 17 March 1997 / Revised: 2 May 1997 / Accepted: 8 May 1997     

Microwave assisted digestion of atmospheric aerosol samples followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry determination of trace elements

A microwave digestion method in a closed vessel was developed for the determination of trace metals in atmospheric aerosols using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A recovery study for the elements V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Sb, and Pb was conducted using multi-elemental standard solutions, NIST 1633b Trace Elements in Coal Fly Ash, and NIST 1648 Urban Particulate Matter. A simple digestion method using only HNO₃/H₂O₂ gave good recoveries (90%–108%) for all elements except Cr in SRM 1648, but yielded low recoveries for SRM 1633b. A more robust method using HNO₃/H₂O₂/HF/H₃BO₃ yielded higher recoveries (82%–¶103%) for the lighter elements (V – Zn) in SRM 1633b, and improved the Cr recovery in SRM 1648, but decreased the Se recovery in both SRMs. A comparative analysis of aerosol samples obtained at a remote mountain location Nathiagali, Pakistan (2.5 km above mean sea level), and Mayville, New York, downwind from the highly industrialized Midwestern United States, was carried out using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) for the elements Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, As, Se, and Sb. The simple digestion method yielded excellent agreement for Cr, Fe, Zn, As, Se, and Sb, with slopes of the ICP-MS vs. INAA regressions of 0.90–1.00 and R² values of 0.96–1.00. The regressions for Mn and Co had slopes of 0.82 and 0.84 with R² values of 0.83 and 0.82, respectively. Addition of HF/H₃BO₃ did not improve the correlation for any of the elements and degraded the precision somewhat. The technique provides sensitivity and accuracy for trace elements in relatively small aerosol samples used in atmospheric chemistry studies related to SO₂ oxidation in cloud droplets. The ability to determine concentrations of a very large number of elements from a single analysis will permit source apportionment of various trace pollutants and hence strategies to control the sources of air pollution. This is particularly important as the health effects of particulate matter are increasingly recognized.     

Statistical mixture design development of digestion methods for Oyster tissue using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for the determination of metallic ions

The quantitative determination of chemical elements in organic or biological samples is an important analytical problem. Normally the elements to be determined in the organic matrix must be transformed into a simple inorganic form. A digestion method by heating on a block digestor has been developed for the determination of Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, V and Zn in Oyster tissue by ICP OES. A simplex centroid statistical mixture design has been used to study the effects of changing HNO₃, HCl and H₂O₂ reagent proportions on the digestion of these samples. Response surface and principal component analyses show that the species Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn have very similar analytical tendencies under this experiment. By means of mixture modeling maximum recoveries for these ions were predicted using 19%, 18% and 63% of the HCl, HNO₃ and H₂O₂ pseudocomponent mixtures, respectively. This corresponds to 21.4%, 30.8% and 47.8% of the HCl, HNO₃ and H₂O₂ commercial solutions. Furthermore the As, Co and V ions present large recoveries for these mixtures as well. The Al and Ba ion recoveries are seen to be independent of the mixture proportions. The analysis of Oyster tissue reference material (SRM 1566b - NIST) under optimized conditions at the selected wavelengths resulted in ion recoveries between 90% and 100%.     

Investigation of four digestion procedures for multi-element determination of toxic and nutrient elements in legumes by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry

A simple and reliable multi-element procedure for determination of essential (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn) and toxic (Al, Cd, Pb) elements in legumes by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was developed. In this contribution, four different digestion procedures were thoroughly investigated and accurately evaluated with respect to their affect on the analysis of legumes. These included wet digestion with HNO₃/H₂SO₄ and HNO₃/H₂SO₄/H₂O₂, and dry ashing with Mg(NO₃)₂ and Mg(NO₃)₂/HNO₃. Two calibrations (aqueous standard and standard addition) procedures were studied, and proved that standard addition was preferable for all analytes. ICP-OES operating parameters, such as radio-frequency (RF) incident power, sample uptake flow rate and nebulizer argon gas flow rate were optimized. The precision as repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for aqueous standard containing 250 μg l⁻¹ of each analyte was in the range1.5-8.0%. The accuracy, expressed as relative error was generally varied in the range of 0.5-10% for all analytes, while the quantification limits were lower than 2.5 μg g⁻¹. Although, acceptable results were obtained from all developed procedures, wet digestion method with HNO₃/H₂SO₄/H₂O₂ is recommended for better recovery. The good agreement between measured and certified concentrations with respect to IAEA-331 and IAEA-359 (CRM's supplied by IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency) indicates that the developed analytical method is well suited for determination of toxic and nutrient elements in legumes and possibly similar matrices.     

Optimized microwave preparation procedure for the elemental analysis of aquatic sediment

 This paper summarizes several key points in applying the microwave preparation technique to the elemental analysis of aquatic sediments and reports systematic experiments in searching for an optimal microwave preparation procedure for element analysis in sediment samples. The determination of the elements Cu, Pb and Cd in a standard reference aquatic sediment sample (CRM 280, COMEUR) was achieved by first digesting the samples in a microwave oven equipped with PFA advanced composite vessels, followed by AAS measurement. The influence of microwave power, digestion time, various dissolution reagents and the HF removing conditions was studied. It has been shown that for a 0.1 g sediment sample the optimal microwave preparation conditions are: 4–5ml HNO₃/HF/H₂O₂ as solvent, digesting time 30 min with 100% microwave power and evaporating the residual acid within 8 min in an open vessel at 80 °C. The element recovery rates with AAS measurement can reach up to 92.4–100.6%. Received: 23 July 1996/Revised: 23 September 1996/Accepted: 25 September 1996     

Boron determination in biological materials by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission and mass spectrometry: effects of sample dissolution methods

This study compares four sample dissolution methods for Boron determination in two National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) botanical Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and three Agriculture Canada/NIST RMs, each having a reference (certified or best estimate) B concentration. The dissolution treatments consisted of: 1) dry ashing at 500° C, 2) wet digestion with HNO₃ + H₂O₂, 3) extraction with hot HNO₃ and 4) closed vessel microwave dissolution. The samples were spiked before and after imposing dissolution treatments to study B recovery by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) analysis. Microwave digests of NIST SRM 1515 and some in-house RMs were also used to compare the B values of ICP-MS and ICP-AES (atomic emission spectrometry). While all three digestion methods (dry ashing, wet ashing and microwave) dissolved botanical samples, only the microwave method worked well for animal tissues. In terms of B values in these materials, there was no significant difference among the three digestion treatments. Near 100% recovery of B spiked before and after the sample dissolution indicates that there may not be a significant loss of B during the dissolution process used in this study. Extraction with hot HNO₃ was as effective as the three digestion treatments, and B values for this method agreed well with reference values. For the botanical materials studied, the B values determined by ICP-AES were not significantly different from ICP-MS values. This study shows that a simple, time and labor efficient hot HNO₃ extraction is as effective as other digestion/dissolution methods for quantitative B recovery from biological materials. Received: 13 June 1996 / Revised: 17 September 1996 / Accepted: 19 September 1996     

Critical comparison of wet and dry digestion procedures for trace metal analysis of meat and fish tissues

The efficiency of four methods of digestion was evaluated for trace metal analysis of pork meat and carp fish tissues. Two methods of dry and two methods of wet ashing were compared in terms of calculated variances. Mixtures of HCl+HNO₃ were applied for wet ashing of the samples at 100 °C, while dry ashing with or without H₂SO₄ at 450 °C were the alternative methods. The digests were subsequently analysed for Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Analysis of variance and Student's t-test were performed separately for meat and fish analytical results. Wet digestion with a (1+1) mixture of HCl+HNO₃ has given better recovery and repeatability for almost all metals than a (9+1) mixture of HCl+HNO₃. Also between the dry ashing methods, the use of H₂SO₄ has given better results than ashing of the tissues without H₂SO₄.     

Multi-elemental analysis of marine sediment reference material MESS-3: one-step microwave digestion and determination by high resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS)

Single-step microwave digestion methods using four different acidic dissolving reagents were investigated with the main objective to obtain a simple, rapid method for multi-elemental analysis of marine sediment samples by high resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HRICP-MS), especially for environmental studies. Closed-vessels microwave digestion procedures were carried out using the reagents as follows: HNO₃, mixture of HNO₃-HCl (φ _r = 9: 1), aqua regia, and mixture of HNO₃-HCl-HF (φ _r = 8: 1: 1). The elements analyzed were: Al, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, Sr, Ti, Tl, V, and Zn. Good recoveries were established for many of the metals analyzed even when only nitric acid was employed. However, for a good recovery of Sb and Tl, aqua regia should be employed.     

Microwave digestion-ICP-MS for elemental analysis in ambient airborne fine particulate matter: rare earth elements and validation using a filter borne fine particle certified reference material

NIST standard reference material SRM 2783 was employed to validate a high temperature, high pressure, two-stage microwave assisted acid digestion procedure using HNO₃, HF and H₃BO₃ developed for the analysis of trace elements (including rare earths) in atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) prior to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This method quantitatively solubilized Na, Mg, Al, K, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sb, Cd, Cs, Ba, Pb, Th, U and several rare earth elements (REEs) (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd, Dy, Er, Sm and Eu) from SRM 1648 and SRM 2783. A small amount of HF in the first stage was required to dissolve silicates necessitating the corresponding addition of H₃BO₃ in second stage to dissolve fluoride precipitates of Mg, La, Ce and Th. The optimized microwave dissolution—ICP-MS method detected Na, Mg, Al, K, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Cd, Mo, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Pb, Th and U at trace to ultra-trace levels in ambient airborne fine particles from three sites in North Carolina. La to light lanthanide signature ratios suggested that soil and motor vehicles are the dominant REE sources in SRM 2783 and PM_2.5 samples collected during this study.