THERMO Scientific | Fast, accurate, and robust analysis of environmental samples according to US EPA Method 6010D

In response to growing environmental issues, the EPA has developed various methods to test the contaminants in environmental samples. On 21 October 1976, the United States Congress enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which governs the disposal of solid and hazardous waste. Guideline methods for the analysis of these types of samples are collated under “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,” more commonly known as SW-846. One of the specified methods is EPA Method 6010D (SW-846) “Inductively Coupled Plasma – Atomic Emission Spectrometry.” This method prescribes the use of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) instrumentation for the determination of target elements in groundwaters, industrial and organic wastes, soils, sludges, and sediments. Although EPA Method 6010D (SW-846) is used mainly within the US for the analysis of environmental samples, variants of this method are widely used in other regions and for other sample types. Therefore, the ability to undertake the analysis of samples using this method represents an important benchmark for any ICP-OES instrument.
This application note describes the performance of the Thermo Scientific™ iCAP™ PRO XP ICP-OES Duo system for the analysis of environmental samples by following the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 6010D (SW-846). Samples were digested in two different ways one used hot plate digestion according to EPA Method 3010A for water samples and 3050B for soil samples, and the other used microwave assisted acid digestion according to EPA Method 3015A for water samples and 3051A for soil samples. The iCAP PRO XP ICP-OES Duo system achieves short analysis times per sample while maintaining compliance with the EPA Method protocol.

Read the detailed application note.