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heavy metal analysis

Heavy metals in water
🎯 Difficulty ★★★ Advanced Duration About 3–6 h 🎯 Use Detection of Pb, Cd, Hg, As and other heavy metals in drinking/wastewater and soil leachate
📖 Principle
After digestion, heavy metals are determined by atomic spectrometry or mass spectrometry
Below are 5 steps. Open each to see how to do it and add products to your shared list.

📋 Workflow

Full workflow, products add-to-cart directly
1

Sampling & preservation

20 min
Acidify and refrigerate water samples to prevent precipitation/adsorption
💡 Tip Use polyethylene bottles to avoid adsorption
⚠️ Caution Sample representative and homogeneous
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2

Sample digestion

60 min
Digest by microwave or wet method into a clear solution
💡 Tip Guard against volatilization for Hg/As
⚠️ Caution Work in fume hood
🧪 Materials for this step (click to shop by spec/brand)
3

Standard preparation

30 min
Dilute mixed metal stock standards into a calibration series
💡 Tip Set range per target element
⚠️ Caution Match standard matrix to sample
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4

Instrument measurement

60 min
Measure with ICP-MS/ICP-OES or graphite furnace AAS
💡 Tip Use isotope IS to correct matrix effects
⚠️ Caution Keep argon flow stable
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5

QC & report

30 min
Verify with spike recovery and reference material, then calculate and report
💡 Tip Target spike recovery 80–120%
⚠️ Caution Verify dilution factor and units
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⚠️ 5 Common Beginner Mistakes

  • Incomplete digestion lowering metal results
  • Container adsorption causing loss
  • Matrix interference affecting accuracy
  • Blank contamination raising background
  • Volatilization loss of Hg/As

❓ FAQ

+Purpose of acid preservation?
Prevents adsorption/precipitation and stabilizes metals.
+Avoiding mercury loss?
Refrigerate, avoid volatilization, measure promptly.
+Which methods for heavy metals?
ICP-MS/OES, graphite furnace AAS and hydride AFS.

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Data authenticity: Product categories from JW Supply Chain standard taxonomy; method→step→product connected. Last updated: 2026-08-23 · v3.0