MULTIELEMENT CHARACTERIZATION OF SOIL SAMPLES WITH ICP-MS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL-STUDIES

The recovery of trace elements of ecotoxic importance has been studied on certified soil and sediment reference samples after pressurized digestions with HNO3, HNO3 + HF and HNO3 + HCl + HF mixtures, respectively. The acid digests have been analyzed by ICP-MS. The results indicate that digestion with nitric acid alone is satisfactory for the recovery of As, Cd, Co, Cu and Zn. Cr and Pb showed lower recoveries with HNO3 alone but addition of HF improved their extraction. With appropriate corrections, ICP-MS can be used for the routine analysis of soils and sediments. These digestion procedures, evaluated based on reference samples, have been used for the trace element characterization of soil samples from the German Environmental Specimen Bank.