Analytical perspective. Relationship between geochemical reference material characterization and the development of new methods for geoanalysis

Abstract

Reference materials (RMs) have a number of uses in the geoanalytical laboratory. Prime among them is the stimulus RMs provide to the continuous improvement of established analytical methods and the development of new methods. As demands increase for certifying the concentrations of elements to higher levels of accuracy and/or with greater precision, old methods of analysis are refined and new ones are developed. This paper traces the parallel histories of the issue of geochemical reference materials and the development of today's principal methods for geoanalysis, showing the relationships between the two.