title: Rapid field screening of soils for heavy metals with spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy.
abstract: 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).
authors.affiliation: Physical Sciences, Incorporated, 20 New England Business Center, Andover, Massachusetts 01810-1077, USA. hunter@psicorp.com
authors.forename: Amy J R
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Richard T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Wainner
authors.forename: Lawrence G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Davis