The analysis of sediment is of high interest in many academic fields. In ecohydrology the analysis of sediments helps to understand their hydrological and biological impact, the interactions between vegetation, land and water. E.g., the accumulation of heavy metals in sediments causes a potential risk to human health due to the transfer of those elements to aquatic media, uptake by plants and their subsequent introduction into the food chain.
Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is a method of choice for the analysis of rock, sediments and soil, due to its multi-element determination capability, high dynamic linear range, sensitivity and robustness.
The report describes the analysis of river sediments using the SPECTROBLUE ICP-OES with radial plasma observation and the SPECTRO ARCOS ICP-OES with axial plasma observation.