Simultaneous Determination of Major, Minor, and Trace Elements in Agricultural and Biological Samples by Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma Spectrometry

Abstract

Abstract Three techniques for biological and agricultural sample preparation are compared. Commercially available inductively coupled argon plasma (ICAP) direct-reading spectrometers have been used to determine 29 major, minor, and trace elements in biological or agricultural samples following a nitric-perchloric acid digestion. At levels below the detection limit of the instrument, 21 other elements were found. The hydride generation-ICAP technique was employed for the determination of As, Bi, Sb, and Se in the same sample types.