TY - CONF A1 - Simon, Fabian T1 - A fast and simple extraction method for the determination of PFASs in soil samples - HR-CS-GFMAS a new screening tool N2 - Here, we describe a fast and simple extraction method for the determination of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) utilizing extractable organic fluorine (EOF) sum parameter analysis and high resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) in soil samples. After extraction and separation of inorganic and organic fluorinated compounds, organically bound fluorinated compounds were indirectly determined via the molecular absorption of gallium mono-fluoride at 211.248 nm. The implementation of the decisions of the “Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants” as well as the “Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution” of the UNECE include the reduction respectively the elimination of PFASs in the environment. Currently, regulations aim to target single compounds (mostly C8-PFAS). But the PFAS group includes over 4700 substances, which are potentially persistent and toxic, thus target analytical approaches are not suitable for a holistic approach investigating the PFAS pollutant situation. Furthermore, forbidden PFASs are substituted by short-chain PFASs, thus the number of unknow substances is steadily increasing. For this reason, sum parameter approaches are more suitable to investigate and assess the pollution situation as well as derive exposure limits. Our developed analytical method was successfully applied to determine PFASs in soil samples from a polluted site. In view of steadily increasing numbers of PFAS substances, our method will make an important contribution in assessing the pollution situation as well as support policy makers in deriving exposure limits for PFAS in the future. T2 - ENSOr - International Workshop on Emerging policy challenges on new soil contaminants CY - Online Meeting DA - 06.05.2021 KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - Soil KW - Sediment PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52608 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Simon, Fabian T1 - A fast and simple PFAS extraction method for soil sample analysis using HR-CS-GFMAS N2 - Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are a substance class of over 4730 individual compounds. Several PFASs are extremely persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. The analysis of PFASs is challenging because of their different chemical and physical properties as well as the high number of target substances. Target-based approaches (e.g., LC-MS/MS) are limited to the availability of analytical grade standards and are not suitable for the analysis of new/unknown PFASs and transformation products. Therefore, PFAS sum parameter methods become increasingly important to indicate a realistic PFAS pollution level. PFAS sum parameters compromise the proportion of organically bound fluorine that can either be extracted (EOF) or adsorbed to activated carbon (AOF). For the instrumental analysis of such sum parameters, a fluorine selective detector is needed. High resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) is a sensitive and highly selective tool for indirect fluorine determination. The method is based on the in situ formation of diatomic gallium-mono fluoride (GaF) in a graphite furnace at a temperature of 1550°C. The molecular absorption of GaF can be detected at its most sensitive wavelength at 211.248 nm providing limits of quantification of c(F) 2.7 µg/L. Here, we describe a fast and simple extraction method for the determination of the EOF using HR-CS-GFMAS in soil samples. Common approaches for the EOF determination use solid phase extraction (SPE). To omit the bias of this time consuming and expensive step we optimized a fast and simple SPE-free extraction method. The developed extraction method consists of a liquid-solid extraction using acidified methanol. Comparison of the method with and without an SPE clean-up step revealed a drastic underestimation of EOF concentrations using SPE. In the next step, the applicability of our method was tested for other solid matrices. In view of steadily increasing numbers of PFASs, our method will make an important contribution in assessing the pollution situation as well as support policy makers in deriving exposure limits for PFASs in the future. T2 - Analytica conference CY - München, Germany DA - 21.06.2022 KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - Soil KW - Fluorine KW - SPE PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55124 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Simon, Fabian T1 - A fast and simple PFAS extraction method for soil samples utilizing HR-CS-GFMAS N2 - Here, we describe a fast and simple extraction method for the determination of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) utilizing extractable organic fluorine (EOF) sum parameter analysis and high resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) in soil samples. After extraction and separation of inorganic and organic fluorinated compounds, organically bound fluorinated compounds were indirectly determined via the molecular absorption of gallium mono-fluoride at 211.248 nm. The implementation of the decisions of the “Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants” as well as the “Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution” of the UNECE include the reduction respectively the elimination of PFASs in the environment. Currently, regulations aim to target single compounds (mostly C8-PFAS). But the PFAS group includes over 4700 substances, which are potentially persistent and toxic, thus target analytical approaches are not suitable for a holistic approach investigating the PFAS pollutant situation. Furthermore, forbidden PFASs are substituted by short-chain PFASs, thus the number of unknow substances is steadily increasing. For this reason, sum parameter approaches are more suitable to investigate and assess the pollution situation as well as derive exposure limits. Our developed analytical method was successfully applied to determine PFASs in soil samples from a polluted site. In view of steadily increasing numbers of PFAS substances, our method will make an important contribution in assessing the pollution situation as well as support policy makers in deriving exposure limits for PFAS in the future. T2 - SALSA Make and Measure ... and Machines CY - Online meeting DA - 16.09.2021 KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - IC KW - EOF KW - Soil PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53302 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiesner, Yosri A1 - Bednarz, Marius A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Bannick, Claus Gerhard A1 - Ricking, Mathias A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - A promising approach to monitor microplastic masses in composts N2 - Inputs of plastic impurities into the environment via the application of fertilizers are regulated in Germany and the EU by means of ordinances. Robust and fast analytical methods are the basis of legal regulations. Currently, only macro- and large microplastic contents (>1 mm) are measured. Microplastics (1–1,000 µm), are not yet monitored. Thermal analytical methods are suitable for this purpose, which can determine the mass content and can also be operated fully automatically in routine mode. Thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) allows the identification of polymers and the determination of mass contents in solid samples from natural environments. In accordance with the German or European Commission (EC) Fertiliser Ordinance, composting plants should be monitored for microplastic particles with this method in the future. In this context a compost plant was sampled. At the end of the rotting process, the compost was sieved and separated in a coarse (>1 mm) and a fine fraction (<1 mm). The fine fraction was processed using density separation comparing NaCl and NaI as possible salt alternative and screened for microplastic masses by TED-GC/MS with additional validation and quality assurance experiments. With TED-GC/MS total microplastics mass contents of 1.1–3.0 μg/mg in finished compost could be detected with polyethylene mainly. What differs much to the total mass of plastics in the coarse fraction with up to 60 μg/mg, which were visually searched, identified via ATR-FTIR and gravimetrically weighted. KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Compost KW - Monitoring KW - Soil PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-586688 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvc.2023.1281558 SN - 2673-4486 VL - 4 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-58668 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Isleyen, Alper A1 - Can, Suleyman Z. A1 - Cankur, Oktay A1 - Engin, Betul Ari A1 - Vogl, Jochen A1 - Koenig, Maren A1 - Horvat, Milena A1 - Jacimovic, Radojko A1 - Zuliani, Tea A1 - Fajon, Vesna A1 - Jotanovic, Aida A1 - Gaževic, Luka A1 - Milosevic, Milena A1 - Ochsenkuehn–Petropoulou, Maria A1 - Tsopelas, Fotis A1 - Lymberopoulou, Theopisti A1 - Tsakanika, Lamprini-Areti A1 - Serifi, Olga A1 - Ochsenkuehn, Klaus M. A1 - Bulska, Ewa A1 - Tomiak, Anna A1 - Kurek, Eliza A1 - Cakılbahçe, Zehra A1 - Aktas, Gokhan A1 - Altuntas, Hatice A1 - Basaran, Elif A1 - Kısacık, Barıs A1 - Gumus, Zeynep T1 - Certification of the total element mass fractions in UME EnvCRM 03 soil sample via a joint research project N2 - Soil certified reference material (CRM), UME EnvCRM 03 was produced by a collaborative approach among national metrology institutes, designated institutes and university research laboratories within the scope of the EMPIR project: Matrix Reference Materials for Environmental Analysis. This paper presents the sampling and processing methodology, homogeneity, stability, characterization campaign, the assignment of property values and their associated uncertainties in compliance with ISO 17034:2016. The material processing methodology involves blending a natural soil sample with a contaminated soil sample obtained by spiking elemental solutions for 8 elements (Cd, Co, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb and Zn) to reach the level of warning risk monitoring values specified for metals and metalloids of soils in Europe. Comparative homogeneity and stability test data were obtained by two different institutes, ensuring the reliability and back up of the data. The certified values and associated expanded uncertainties for the total mass fractions of thirteen elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn) are established. The developed CRM can be used for the development and validation of measurement procedures for the determination of the total mass fractions of elements in soil and also for quality control/assurance purposes. The developed CRM is the first example of a soil material originating from Türkiye. KW - Total element content KW - Soil KW - CRM KW - Certification KW - Environmental pollution monitoring PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-024-01597-8 SN - 1432-0517 VL - 29 SP - 293 EP - 301 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-59954 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Piechotta, Christian A1 - Bandow, Nicole T1 - Comparing PFAS analysis in batch leaching and column leaching tests N2 - Laboratory leaching tests are tools to assess the mobility of environmental contaminants released from granular materials. Comparative leaching tests were performed using four PFAS-contaminated soils whose concentration patterns of 10 selected perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) differed due to the two types of contamination sources. This study aimed to evaluate the equivalence of two usual laboratory-scale leaching test procedures, batch and column percolation tests, at liquid-to-solid ratios (L/S) of 2 l/kg, which is the current practice within the German assessment framework, and 10 l/kg (relevant for some EU regulations such as the landfill directive). The differences between the replicates of leaching tests investigating PFAS were smaller for column percolation tests than for batch tests, probably mainly due to the greater sample size and the better representativeness of the sample portion analyzed. It was observed that batch tests overestimate the release of shorter-chain PFAS, whereby the effect was greater with carboxylic than with sulfonic acids. Currently, the limits of detection of analyses given by the DIN standard with regard to PFCA and PFSA in soils are partly not sufficient to detect very low contents, whereas the detection of selected PFCA and PFSA in eluates is more sensitive, in accordance with the available standards. This results in limitations when calculating mass balances. KW - PFAS KW - Leaching KW - Column percolation test KW - Batch test KW - Soil PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-618187 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-35510-0 SN - 1614-7499 VL - 31 IS - 57 SP - 65233 EP - 65251 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-61818 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Piechotta, Christian T1 - Comparison of three different TOP Assay approaches for the determination of PFAS concentration in soil N2 - Within a project by the German Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) soil samples are taken at different sites all over Germany. The concentration of 30 PFAS - 13 carboxylic acids (C4-C18), 5 sulfonic acids (C4-C10) and 12 precursor substances) - was determined in these soil samples using three different sample preparation approaches: 1) ultrasonic extraction of the soil samples with Methanol; 2) preparation of eluates to test the leaching behaviour of the PFAS and 3) TOP assays following the method published by Houtz & Sedlak. Targeted LC-MS/MS is used to determine PFAS concentration after all three preparation steps. For the TOP assay, the concentration of all 30 PFAS is compared prior to and after the oxidation reaction. Besides the ‘classic’ TOP assay, two other TOP assay approaches, the dTOP assay and the photoTOP assay, are tested and compared. First, all three TOP assay approaches will be tested on a reference soil spiked with a solution including all 30 PFAS measured in the project. Later, soil samples taken within the the priorly described project will were tested. This work is financed by the UBA via the ReFoPlan2021 project, FKZ372171. T2 - Euroanalysis 2025 CY - Barcelona, Spain DA - 31.08.2025 KW - PFAS KW - TOP-Assay KW - Soil PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64666 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart T1 - Detection of PFAS pollution in environmental samples - A Fast & sensitive PFAS sum parameter method using HR CS GFMAS N2 - The substance class of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) comprises more than 5300 organic compounds. PFAS are completely fluorinated on at least one carbon atom. They are associated with negative impacts on human and animal health, are extremely persistent in the environment, and bioaccumulate along food chains. Therefore, PFAS are classified as emerging pollutants. At the same time, their physicochemical properties make them attractive for use in diverse technical applications. They are both hydrophobic and lipophobic and show high thermal as well as chemical resistance due to the strong C-F bond. First regulations of some PFAS in combination with the technically excellent properties generated an innovation pressure and led to an enormous increase in the number of fluorinated substitution compounds. Due to the increasing complexity of this substance class, target analysis is not able to cover such a variety and multitude of analytes. Therefore, a suitable PFAS sum parameter method is necessary for an accurate detection of PFAS pollution in the environment, the identification of PFAS hotspots and an evaluation of appropriate remediation measures. Here we provide insights into the current state of PFAS sum parameter development and present our latest results on method development for the quantitative analysis of PFAS as extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF) in environmental samples using high-resolution molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS). For this purpose, we optimized the extraction of PFAS from different solid matrices with simultaneous separation of inorganic fluoride. For quantification resulting extracts were measured using a fluorine specific HR-CS-GFMAS method. By adding gallium salt solutions as modifiers in HR-CS-GFMAS, fluorine can be indirectly quantified very selectively by the in situ formation of GaF with low limits of quantification (instrumental LOQ c(F) < 3 µg/L). Here we will show results from real soil samples from sites with and without known contamination. T2 - 6. Doktorandenseminar des Deutschen Arbeitskreises für Analytische Spektroskopie (DAAS) CY - Online meeting DA - 20.09.2021 KW - High resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) KW - Soil KW - Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) KW - Extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF) KW - Solid-liquid extraction PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53333 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, U. T1 - Detection of plastics in soil N2 - Soil acts as a final sink for pollutants. Microplastics from different sources such as plastic mulching, littering, compost, sewage sludge, sedimentary deposition, and tyre abrasion are expected to be found in soil. However, representative and comprehensive information is missing on the sources, transport, and fate. Therefore, a reliable analysis method for microplastics in soils needs to be developed. The presented work describes the development of a procedure for microplastics analysis in soils. A representative sampling based on the on-site conditions and a sample preparation method was established and comprised of a drying step, the separation of microplastic particles > 1 mm, and a density separation for particles < 1 mm. The detection of the large microplastic particles (> 1 mm) was conducted with Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier Transform infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) , while Thermal Extraction Desorption - Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) was applied for particles < 1 mm, gaining information on the type of polymer and mass fraction. Based on the established method, 14 environmental soil samples ? with different exposure of microplastics from agriculture, industrial sites, roads, and floods were investigated. Due to the arbitrary microplastic particle distribution among the samples for large microplastics, it was reasoned that the found particles were unrepresentative. In contrast, microplastic particles < 1 mm were discovered in a high mass in soil samples exposed to plastic mulching or fertilization with sewage sludge or compost (0 – 115 mg/kg). On average, microplastic contents detected in soil samples taken from a construction site and an inner-city lake were higher (13 – 238 mg/kg). As expected, microplastic content in soil sampled in proximity to roads was more pronounced in the upper soil layers. In contrast, very remote sampling sites, expectably uncontaminated, did not lead to the detection of microplastic regarding to thermoanalytical detection method. In a proof of concept experiment several in vivo and in vitro ecotoxicological tests were applied to evaluate the effect of microplastics (tyre abrasion, polystyrene containing hexabromocyclododecane) in natural soils. In summary, while no effects of the examined probes could be detected on higher levels of biological organization after exposures to earthworm E. andrei, significant changes in several oxidative stress related biomarkers were observed. T2 - SETAC Europe 2022 CY - Kopenhagen, Denmark DA - 15.05.2022 KW - Microplastic KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Soil PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55872 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Simon, Fabian T1 - HR-CS-GFMAS a versatile screening tool for PFASs in various environmental samples N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of anthropogenic contaminates associated with persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties. Mostly, target-based approaches (e.g., LC-MS/MS) are utilized for the analysis of PFASs in the environment. Target approaches are limited to a few selected PFASs and therefore underestimate the total PFAS burden. Analytical approaches based on total fluorine for PFAS sum parameter analysis become increasingly important to indicate realistic PFAS pollution levels. Recently high resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) turned out to be a sensitive and highly selective tool for fluorine determination. The method is based on the in situ formation of diatomic gallium-mono fluoride (GaF) in a graphite furnace at a temperature of 1550°C. The molecular absorption of GaF can be detected at its most sensitive wavelength at 211.248 nm providing limits of quantification in the low µg F/L range. HR-CS-GFMAS analysis can be combined with the extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF) approach whereas PFASs are extracted from liquid or solid samples using organic solvents and/or solid phase extraction (SPE). In this presentation the applicability of HR-CS-GFMAS for organic fluorine analysis in various environmental sample including (1) water samples, (2) soil samples and (3) plant samples is demonstrated. (1) We investigated EOF concentrations in water bodies in Berlin, Germany and used additional PFAS target analysis for a PFAS mass balance approach. EOF concentrations were in the expected range for an urban river system. However, downstream of an effluent discharge, the EOF increased by one order of magnitude from 40 to 574 ng F/L. Target analysis determined mostly short-chained perfluorinated carboxylic acids and sulfonic acids, which however only made up less than 10% of the EOF. This study highlights that EOF screening using HR-CS-GFMAS is useful and advantageous compared to target analysis to identify pollution sites in urban water systems. (2) For soil samples, we optimized a fast and simple PFAS extraction method for EOF determination. The developed extraction method consists of a liquid-solid extraction without any additional SPE for fluoride removal. We investigated different soil samples using the optimized method with and without an additional SPE clean-up step and revealed a drastic underestimation of EOF mass fractions using SPE. The optimized method is a valuable screening tool for fast PFAS monitoring. (3) For plant samples, we conducted a study on the uptake and fate of PFASs in bean plants. For PFAS mass balancing HR-CS-GFMAS analysis was combined with LC-MS/MS analysis. PFASs were spiked as mixtures of known and unknown composition. Short-chained PFASs were determined with high mass fractions mainly in the fruits of the investigated plants while long-chained PFASs were mainly determined in roots. Overall, both methods indicate comparable results with target analysis being more reliable for known PFAS contamination and EOF/HR-CS-GFMAS analysis being more valuable to identify PFAS exposure of unknown composition. T2 - 18th International Conference on Chemistry and the Environment (ICCE) CY - Venice, Italy DA - 11.06.2023 KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS KW - Fluorine KW - WWTP KW - Soil KW - Plants PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57700 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - You, Zengchao T1 - Multi element analysis in soil using nitrogen microwave inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MICAP MS) N2 - Due to the fast growth of industry and the use of metal-containing compounds such as sewage sludge in agricultural fields, soil pollution associated with heavy metals presents a terrifying threat to the environment. Throughout the world, there are already 5 million sites of soil contaminated by heavy metals1. Some heavy metals pollutants can influence food chain safety and food quality, which in turn affects human health. According to the German Federal Soil Protection and Contaminated Site Ordinance (BBodSchV) 13 heavy metals such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are classified as heavily toxic to human health2. Therefore, elemental analysis and precise quantification of the heavy metals in soil are of great importance. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) emerged as a powerful technique for trace analysis of soil due to its multi-element capability, high sensitivity and low sample consumption. However, despite its success and widespread use, ICP-MS has several persistent drawbacks, such as high argon gas consumption, argon-based polyatomic interferences and the need for complicated RF-power generators. Unlike argon-based ICP, the nitrogen microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) uses nitrogen as plasma gas, which eliminates high operating costs associated with argon-gas consumption as well as the argon-based interferences3. For the first time, the applicability of MICAP-MS for elemental analysis of environmental soils is investigated in this work. For this purpose, 7 reference- and 3 random soil samples containing vanadium (V), cobalt (Co), zink (Zn), copper (Cu), chrome (Cr), mercury (Hg), As, Pb and Cd are digested with aqua regia and used for analysis. Concentrations of selected elements are determined using MICAP-MS and validated using ICP-MS. Sensitivities, limits of detection and gas consumption for both methods are compared and discussed in detail. Moreover, the performance of MICAP-MS under different nitrogen plasma gas concentrations is investigated and compared. T2 - BAM Adlershofer Kolloquium CY - Online meeting DA - 21.06.2022 KW - Microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) KW - Multi-element analysis KW - Soil KW - Nitrogen plasma PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55182 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - You, Zengchao T1 - Multi element analysis in soil using nitrogen microwave inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MICAP MS) N2 - Due to the fast growth of industry and the use of metal-containing compounds such as sewage sludge in agricultural fields, soil pollution associated with heavy metals presents a terrifying threat to the environment. Throughout the world, there are already 5 million sites of soil contaminated by heavy metals1. Some heavy metals pollutants can influence food chain safety and food quality, which in turn affects human health. According to the German Federal Soil Protection and Contaminated Site Ordinance (BBodSchV) 13 heavy metals such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are classified as heavily toxic to human health2. Therefore, elemental analysis and precise quantification of the heavy metals in soil are of great importance. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) emerged as a powerful technique for trace analysis of soil due to its multi-element capability, high sensitivity and low sample consumption. However, despite its success and widespread use, ICP-MS has several persistent drawbacks, such as high argon gas consumption, argon-based polyatomic interferences and the need for complicated RF-power generators. Unlike argon-based ICP, the nitrogen microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) uses nitrogen as plasma gas, which eliminates high operating costs associated with argon-gas consumption as well as the argon-based interferences3. For the first time, the applicability of MICAP-MS for elemental analysis of environmental soils is investigated in this work. For this purpose, 7 reference- and 3 random soil samples containing vanadium (V), cobalt (Co), zink (Zn), copper (Cu), chrome (Cr), mercury (Hg), As, Pb and Cd are digested with aqua regia and used for analysis. Concentrations of selected elements are determined using MICAP-MS and validated using ICP-MS. Sensitivities, limits of detection and gas consumption for both methods are compared and discussed in detail. Moreover, the performance of MICAP-MS under different nitrogen plasma gas concentrations is investigated and compared T2 - Spectroscopium Colloquium CY - Gijon, Spain DA - 30.05.2022 KW - Microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) KW - Multi-element analysis KW - Soil KW - Nitrogen plasma PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55181 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - You, Zengchao T1 - Multi-element analysis in different matrices using nitrogen microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure plasma mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) N2 - Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) emerged as a powerful technique for trace analysis of soil due to its multi-element capability, high sensitivity and low sample consumption. However, despite its success and widespread use, ICP-MS has several persistent drawbacks, such as high argon gas consumption, argon-based polyatomic interferences and the need for complicated RF-power generators. Unlike argon-based ICP, the nitrogen microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) uses nitrogen as plasma gas, which eliminates high operating costs associated with argon-gas consumption as well as the argon-based interferences1. In this work, the applicability of MICAP-MS for elemental analysis in different matrices is investigated. For this purpose, reference soil samples and steel samples are digested with aqua regia and used for analysis. Concentrations of selected elements are determined using MICAP-MS and validated with ICP-MS und certified values. Sensitivities, limits of detection and gas consumption for both methods are compared and discussed in detail. Performance of MICAP-MS under different nitrogen plasma gas concentrations is investigated and compared. Moreover, the performance of MICAP-MS in alloy matrices is investigated and discussed. T2 - EWCPS 2023 CY - Ljubljana, Slovenia DA - 29.01.2023 KW - Microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) KW - Multi-element analysis KW - Soil KW - Steel KW - Nitrogen plasma PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-56994 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - You, Zengchao A1 - Akkus, Asli A1 - Weisheit, W. A1 - Giray, Thorsten A1 - Penk, Sibylle A1 - Buttler, Sabine A1 - Recknagel, Sebastian A1 - Abad Andrade, Carlos Enrique T1 - Multielement analysis in soils using nitrogen microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure plasma mass spectrometry N2 - In this study, we employed nitrogen microwave inductively coupled atmospheric-pressure plasma (MICAP) combined with quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS) and a liquid sample introduction system to analyze heavy metals in soils. The vanadium, cobalt, nickel, zinc, copper, chromium, arsenic, lead, and cadmium contents in seven reference and three environmental soil samples determined using MICAP-MS were within the uncertainty of the reference values, indicating that MICAP-MS is promising for soil analysis similar to the conventional inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique. In addition, the limits of detection (LODs) and sensitivity of both techniques using N2 and Ar plasma were of the same order of magnitude. Furthermore, the performance of MICAP-MS under different N2 purity was investigated, and we found that the plasma formation and ionization efficiency were not influenced by the impurities in the gas. A prominent advantage of MICAP-MS is the low operating cost associated with gas consumption. In this work, MICAP-MS used nitrogen, which is cheaper than argon, and consumed 25% less gas than ICP-MS. Using low-purity N2 can further reduce the gas cost, making MICAP-MS more cost effective than ICP-MS. These results suggest that MICAP-MS is a promising alternative to ICP-MS for the analysis of heavy metals in the soil. KW - Soil KW - Microwave inductively coupled atmospheric pressure mass spectrometry (MICAP-MS) KW - Nitrogen plasma KW - Multi-element analysis PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-561048 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ja00244b SN - 0267-9477 VL - 37 IS - 12 SP - 2556 EP - 2562 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-56104 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sowoidnich, Kay A1 - Pätzold, Stefan A1 - Ostermann, Markus A1 - Sumpf, Bernd A1 - Maiwald, Martin T1 - Qualitative and quantitative soil characterization on an agricultural field using a portable shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy instrument N2 - Site-specific farmland management requires comprehensive information about the soil status to derive informed treatment decisions, e.g. for liming or fertilizer recommendations. Standard laboratory methods relying on sample collection have only limited ability to adequately capture the spatial variability of typical agricultural fields. Here, on-site analytical techniques with the potential to measure the soil properties on a substance-specific level and at the required spatial resolution could be very beneficial. Raman spectroscopy is a very promising technique for this purpose as it provides a molecular fingerprint of soil constituents. However, intrinsic soil fluorescence and daylight interference can be major issues masking characteristic Raman signals. Here, we apply an in-house developed portable shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS) instrument based on a dual-wavelength diode laser emitting around 785 nm to effectively separate the Raman signals of soil from such interferences. SERDS investigations on a selected agricultural field in Germany demonstrate that the Raman spectroscopic signature of 9 soil minerals and organic carbon could successfully be separated from intense backgrounds. Using partial least squares regression against reference analyses, a successful prediction of the soil carbonate (R2 = 0.86, root mean squared error of cross validation RMSECV = 2.49%) and soil organic carbon content (R2 = 0.89, RMSECV = 0.32%) as important soil parameters is realized. The results obtained on-site with the portable instrument were confirmed by SERDS laboratory experiments of collected soil samples thus highlighting the capability and reliability of portable SERDS as promising and complementary tool for precision agriculture KW - XRF KW - Raman spectroscopy KW - Soil KW - SERDS KW - Precision agriculture PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-634597 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d5an00178a SN - 0003-2654 VL - 150 IS - 13 SP - 2934 EP - 2944 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-63459 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rodrigues, Leticia T1 - Tracing Copper Fungicide Uptake and Distribution in Pea Plants and Soil Using 65Cu Isotope Labeling N2 - Copper-based fungicides are commonly used in grain farming to prevent yield losses and undesirable changes in organoleptic properties. However, the ingestion of these compounds can pose significant health risks to humans and animals when exposed through the oral route of absorption. To evaluate whether copper from foliar-applied fungicides can be absorbed and translocated to edible plant tissues, this study investigates the mobility of copper from a copper oxychloride fungicide using 65Cu as a stable isotope tracer. A greenhouse system was established to grow peas (Pisum sativum L.) and simulate agricultural fungicide applications. The 65Cu-labeled copper oxychloride fungicide was synthesized in-house and fully characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Three applications of the fungicide (0,073g of total copper) were performed in a greenhouse pea growing system, while a control system received ultrapure water. After each application, surface soil, pods, and grains were collected, dried, ground, and digested. Total copper concentrations were measured via ICP OES, and 63Cu/65Cu isotopic ratios were analyzed using ICP-MS. Trends in isotopic ratio and total copper accumulation are visualized through the time series below, indicating the fungicide’s mobility and its accumulation in plant tissues and soil. Samples exposed to the copper fungicide exhibited markedly reduced 63Cu/65Cu isotopic ratios, indicating the uptake of the 65Cu tracer. Pod samples from the treated system showed a sharp decrease, especially after the first application. In the control grains, isotopic ratios stayed consistent throughout the experiment, reflecting the absence of direct contact with the fungicide. Conversely, grains from the treated system showed a consistent decrease in isotopic ratio values throughout the three applications. This pattern suggests a possible mechanism for absorbing or transferring copper isotopes from the pods to the grains, indicating the potential for internal contamination of edible plant tissues, even when the fungicide is applied externally. A similar trend was observed in the topsoil: while isotopic ratios remained constant in the control soil, the treated soil showed a consistent decrease after each application. These findings indicate that the copper fungicide is not only absorbed by aerial plant parts but also accumulates in the soil over time. Altogether, the use of 65Cu isotope tracing proved highly effective in assessing the systemic mobility, transfer, and environmental persistence of copper-based fungicides under controlled greenhouse conditions. T2 - 17th Rio Symposium on Atomic Spectrometry (17th RSAS) CY - São Pedro City, Brazil DA - 09.11.2025 KW - Isotope tracer KW - Cu isotopes KW - Copper-based fungicides KW - Soil KW - Food safety KW - Pea plants PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64955 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -