Siberian Federal University

A sample preparation method for solids from atmospheric aerosols collected on membrane acetate filters is proposed for element determination by ICP-MS aimed at atmospheric environment monitoring. The method is based on fusion with lithium metaborate following a preliminary ashing stage of the filters containing the aerosols. The preliminary ashing of samples prevents possible ignition of the filters during fusion and reduces the amount of lithium metaborate required. The samples consisted of 0.45 μm membrane acetate filters loaded with suspended particulate matter from the certified reference material – BIL-1, prepared from filtered model solutions. The BIL-1 reference material is a common reference material in terrigenous matter researches. Ashing process was performed in shielded platinum crucibles in a muffle furnace, with gradual heating increments of 50ºC, which ensured the absence of substance losses. After ashing, fusion was carried out in the same crucibles according to a well-established procedure. The described sample preparation ensures complete dissolution of a wide range of determined elements, including both rock-forming and trace elements. Detection limits for rock-forming elements range from 3.7∙10-1 to 3.3∙10 3 μg∙g-1, for trace elements from 2∙10-2 to 60 μg∙g-1, for REE from 1∙10-3 to 8.4∙10-2 μg∙g-1, and depend significantly on the contamination level of the filters. The analytical uncertainty varies from 1.6 to 21 %. The accuracy of ICP-MS determination of 42 elements using the proposed sample preparation method was validated by comparison with certified (recommended) values for the BIL-1 reference material. Deviations of the obtained mean values for most elements in the BIL-1 reference material on filters, particularly for Al, Si, Na, K, Ca, Zr, Hf, Sc, and rare earth elements, do not exceed or are close to 10 %, indicating the applicability of the proposed sample preparation approach for ICP-MS analysis of solids from atmospheric aerosols