X-ray fluorescence analysis of micronutrients and heavy metals in soils

The potential of X-ray spectrometry for the analysis of micronutrients and heavy metals in soils has been examined. It is shown that the absorption-co rrection and standard-background methods are more accurate than the externa l-standard method. The standard-background method is preferable, because it does not require a knowledge of the sample macrocomposition. Different met hods are proposed for measuring the true intensities of analytical lines fo r both energy dispersive and quantimetric registration of spectra. Techniqu es have been developed for processing the line intensities measured without separation from the background radiation and superposition. The accuracy o f micronutrient analysis corresponds to the 2-3 categories of accuracy (Sci entific Council on Analytical Methods).