Characterization of environmental samples in an ophiolitic area of northern Italy using ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and XRF

In Ponte Barberino an ophiolitic environment in the Trebbia River Valley near the town of Piacenza, Northern Italy, rocks and soils are characterized by high concentrations of Cr and Ni. The determination of macro, micro, and rare earth elements in rock, soil, sediment, and plant samples was carried out by ICP-OES, ICP-MS, an XRF after alkaline fusion or microwave acid mineralization. For sediment samples, microwave acid digestion (8 ml, aqua regia + 2 mL HF), followed by ICP-OES, provided results comparable to those obtained by In the case of plants,, microwave acid mineralization (7 ml, HNO3 + 1 mL H2O2 + 0.2 mL HF) followed by ICP-OES analysis was particularly suitable for the determination of trace elements in leaves of the most common botanical species found in the investigated area. In addition, soil/plant transfer factors characterized the Alyssum spp. species as a hyperaccumulator of Ni. Alkaline fission was found to be the best dissolution procedure for rock samples; recoveries ranged between 95 and 103% for Cr and Ni, respectively. Also, XRF and ICP-OES analysis proved to be very reliable and provided comparable results. In rock samples, ICP-MS allowed the determination of trace and rare earth elements not detectable by the other techniques.