ICP-MS Determination of RE Elements in Soil with Microwave Assisted Sample Digestion

The soil sample was digested with HNO3, HCl, HF and H2O2, and the contents of the 16 RE elements in the sample solution were determined by ICP-MS. Appropriate isotopes of the elements determined were selected and correction equations were used to overcome the mass spectrometric interferences; and Rh and Re were selected as internal standards to overcome the non-mass spectrometric interferences. Values of detection limit (3s) for the 16 RE elements were found in the range of 0.000 4-0.014 0 μg·L-1. The proposed method was applied to the determination of RE elements in a CRM of soil (GBW 07446), giving results in consistency with the certified values and values of RSD′s (n=11) found were less than 5.0%.