Comparison between inductively coupled plasma and X-ray fluorescence performance for Pb analysis in environmental soil samples

Ali Al Maliki,H M Hussain,Ahmed Kadhim Al-Lami,Nadhir Al-Ansari

doi:10.1007/s12665-017-6753-z

Abstract

Comparison of two conventional analytical techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for measuring Pb concentrations in soil samples was achieved using field and laboratory work. Seventy-three samples were collected from urban areas surrounding the large lead smelter at South Australia, as an indicator of the environment impact of smelter activity. Soil Pb concentrations were determined using hand-held XRF analyser under laboratory conditions. ICP-MS analysis on digested soils (using a microwave-assisted nitric acid digestion-extraction) was applied to validate p-XRF data. The analysis showed that Pb concentrations determined by XRF correlated with high linearity with Pb concentrations determined by ICP-MS measurements (R2 = 0.89). Statistical test (t test) was applied to the data of both methods applied without any significant difference between the two techniques. These results indicated that ICP-MS corroborated XRF for Pb soil measurements and suggests that XRF was a reliable and quick alternative to traditional analytical methods in studies of environmental health risk assessment, allowing for much larger sampling regimes in relatively shorter times and could be applied in the field.

Highlights

Lead (Pb) is a toxic heavy metal and common environmental contaminant which can represent significant threats to public health at high concentration levels (Kachenko and Singh 2006; WHO 2010)
The analysis showed that Pb concentrations determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) correlated with high linearity with Pb concentrations determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements (R2 = 0.89)
The XRF analyser was calibrated with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reference standards, NIST 2780 and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act RCRA and Montana soil 2711 Standard Reference Materials (SRM)

Summary

Introduction

Lead (Pb) is a toxic heavy metal and common environmental contaminant which can represent significant threats to public health at high concentration levels (Kachenko and Singh 2006; WHO 2010). Since 1889 the emission of dust particles from South Australia’s smelter led to identify three different area, according to levels of risk: high, medium and low, based on the mean BPb, an accurate bioindicator of environmental lead exposure detected on children under five years (Maynard et al 2005). The Nyrstar Port Pirie smelter is one of the largest smelters in the world, producing approximately five per cent of the global Pb production (Tiller 1976; Kutlaca 1998; Van Alphen 1999; Taylor 2012) The children in this area have high BPb levels which were often associated with Pb deposition from smelter emissions or exposure to historic lead dust and soil contamination (Simon et al 2013). Sampling was operated at the surface (2–5 cm deep) because the upper soil layer is representative of lead contamination due to accumulation in urban soils (Wu et al 2010)

Analytical methods and apparatus

Results and discussion

Conclusion