Atomic-absorption determination of strontium in a standard plant material: comment on results of inter-laboratory comparison

Abstract

It is claimed that the concentration of strontium in Bowen's standard kale (Analyst, 1967, 92, 124) is 101·13 ± 2·38 p.p.m., on evidence that X-ray fluorescence values obtained subsequently to Bowen's inter-laboratory comparison were in good agreement at 101 p.p.m. with atomic-absorption values obtained in this laboratory by using anion exchange and the addition method, but not reported separately from other atomic-absorption results by Bowen. Methods used in obtaining the neutron-activation results and these other atomic-absorption results implied in the inter-laboratory comparison should be examined for serious interferences.