Rapid field screening of soils for heavy metals with spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy (SIBS) is a recently developed atomic-fluorescene-based analytical technique that is analogous to laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. SIBS, however, uses an electrical plasma generation method on nonconductive samples instead of a focused laser beam. Here we de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied optics (2004) 2003-04, Vol.42 (12), p.2102-2109
Main Authors: Hunter, Amy J R, Wainner, Richard T, Piper, Lawrence G, Davis, Steven J
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy (SIBS) is a recently developed atomic-fluorescene-based analytical technique that is analogous to laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. SIBS, however, uses an electrical plasma generation method on nonconductive samples instead of a focused laser beam. Here we describe the basic characteristics of SIBS and its application to the field-screening analysis of soil, using a standard addition analytical approach. Detection limits of approximately 25 mg/kg have been seen for lead, chromium, barium, mercury, and cadmium. A variety of soils have been tested, some cocontaminated with organic material and uranium (238U).
ISSN:1559-128X
DOI:10.1364/AO.42.002102