Study of the major and trace elements in two new environmental reference materials (ISE-860 and CGL-208) by neutron...

This research work was conducted for elemental characterization of two new reference materials (RMs)-International Soil-Analytical Exchange (ISE)-860: sediment and Mongolian Central Geological Laboratory (CGL)-208: coal fly ash, and also to study the accuracy and repeatability of elemental data of neutron activation analysis (NAA). In this research, reference materials IAEA-Soil-7, NIST-1633b (coal fly ash), and IAEA-SL-1 (lake sediment) were analyzed with new RMs for evaluation of the quality control of the analyses because they are extensively analyzed and have certified values for many elements. With repeated analysis (n = 4) of each RM, three statistical parameters (Z-score, U-score, and relative standard deviation) evaluated the accuracy and repeatability of the data obtained and were observed to be good enough for the analytical scheme to be applied to similar sorts of geochemical/environmental samples. A total of 26 major and trace elements were determined in both studied RMs. In the case of ISE-860, none of the elements have their certified value, but almost all elements have their own consensus value. Moreover, for ISE-860, there are no consensus values for Dy, Eu, Hf, Sm, Ta, Tb, and Yb yet. On the other hand, in the case of CGL-208, almost all elements have their preliminary certified values. However, Br and Ta have no certified/information values for this RM. The elemental concentrations (mass fraction) reported here for ISE-860 and CGL-208 can be used to compile certificate values for these RMs. The new concentration data obtained from this study will enhance the elemental database for these RMs, aiding in method development, calibration, validation, quality control, and quality assurance for matrix-matched sample analysis.