Round robin analysis of aluminium using glow discharge mass spectrometry

Abstract

A comparative study between ten European GDMS laboratories was performed using a high-purity 4N (99.99%) Al sample. An analytical procedure including six consecutive analyses for 43 elements was suggested. The concentration levels for the trace and ultratrace determinations ranged from several tens of µg g^–1 to low ng g^–1 levels. For more than 50% of the GDMS determinations, the repeatability standard deviation within laboratories was less than 10% RSD. Results with confidence intervals for 31 elements are presented for comparison. For the 31 elements, a statistical treatment according to ISO 5725 was performed calculating outliers, mean value, reproducibility, standard deviation between laboratories, and confidence interval (95% significance level) as well as bias from reference values. For 23 elements, no significant bias between GDMS results and accepted reference values could be detected.