Uranium an issue in my tank?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 30, 2020

ATI North America said:
Randy if you could let me know what you would need for this, I would like to be on your recommended list as well.

Is this not enough information?

Limits of Detection (LOD) and Quantification (LOQ) » ATI-Aquaristik

atiaquaristik.com

Major elements:

Element LLOD ULOQ correlation coefficient
Boron 0.01 – 0.02 mg/l 10 mg/l 0.99971
Bromine 0.11 – 0.20 mg/l 100 mg/l 0.99931
Calcium 9.36 mg/l 600 mg/l 0.99996
Chloride 8960 mg/l 26900 mg/l 0.99864
Fluoride 0.01 0.03 mg/l 10 mg/l 0.99864
Potassium 1.42 mg/l 600 mg/l 0.99985
Magnesium 10 mg/l 2000 mg/l 0.99961
Sodium 5000 mg/l 15000 mg/l 0.99998
Sulfur 408 mg/l 1300 mg/l 0.99938

Nutrients:

Element LLOD ULOQ correlation coefficient
Nitrate 0.01 – 0.03 mg/l 200 mg/l 0.99961
Phosphorous 0.07 – 0.2 µg/l 360 µg/l 0.99999

Trace elements:

Element LLOD ULOQ correlation coefficient
Aluminium 0.08 – 0.25 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99996
Antimony 2,53 – 4,64 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99996
Arsenic 0,13 – 0,24 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99993
Barium 0,09 – 0,22 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99994
Beryllium 0,03 – 0,04 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99999
Bismuth 0,54 – 1,54 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99988
Lead 1.38 – 1.67 µg/l 288 µg/l 0.99993
Cadmium 0.09 – 0.14 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99997
Chromium 0.08 – 0.15 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99996
Cobalt 0.15 – 0.47 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99994
Iron 0.43 – 0.83 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99992
Jodine 3.01 – 6.24 µg/l 396 µg/l 0.99964
Copper 0.63 – 0.74 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99997
Lanthanium 4.03 – 6.31 µg/l 36.0 µg/l 0.99944
Lithium 0.03 – 0.26 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99996
Manganese 0.03 – 0.04 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99996
Molybdenum 0.36 – 0.52 µg/l 288 µg/l 0.99999
Nickel 0.41 – 0.46 µg/l 288 µg/l 0.99994
Mercury 0.46 – 1.12 µg/l 142 µg/l 0.99998
Phosphorous 0.07 – 0.25 µg/l 360 µg/l 0.99999
Selenic 3.95 – 6.51 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99999
Silicon 0.88 – 1.27 µg/l 1200 µg/l 0.99951
Thallium 4.17 – 7.22 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99973
Titanium 0.28 – 0.54 µg/l 48 µg/l 0.99997
Vanadium 0.27 – 0.59 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99998
Tungsten 1.82 – 3.74 µg/l 36.0 µg/l 0.99928
Zinc 0.07 – 0.35 µg/l 240 µg/l 0.99997
Tin 0.57 – 0.88 µg/l 192 µg/l 0.99995

LLOD = lowest limit of detection
ULOQ = upper limit of quantification

Thank you. That is very helpful.

blasterman · Jul 31, 2020

Waiting for a T5 fanboy to claim the uranium results are from using LEDs....lol

I’ma tempermental coral · Jul 31, 2020

From my limited knowledge on the topic I believe there are two main types of ICP. OES, optical emission spectroscopy, and MS, mass spectrometry. From the results I see posted here and there, most tests(especially those coming from the less expensive routes) seem to be coming from OE spectrometers. Does anyone out there use the much more accurate and better detection limits of the MS method?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 31, 2020

I’ma tempermental coral said:
From my limited knowledge on the topic I believe there are two main types of ICP. OES, optical emission spectroscopy, and MS, mass spectrometry. From the results I see posted here and there, most tests(especially those coming from the less expensive routes) seem to be coming from OE spectrometers. Does anyone out there use the much more accurate and better detection limits of the MS method?

ICP-MS is not necessarily "better". There are many interferences in seawater that have caused problems with interpretation issues. I had to suggest corrections to some papers that purported to show levels of trace elements in various salt mixes that used ICP-MS, but for which certain cross interferences messed up proper interpretation.

Trace elements determination in seawater by ICP-MS with on-line pre-concentration on a Chelex-100 column using a ‘standard’ instrument setup

Trace elements determination in seawater by ICP-MS with on-line pre-concentration on a Chelex-100 column using a ‘standard’ instrument setup - PMC

Method name: Trace elements determination in seawater by ICP-MS with on-line pre-concentration on a Chelex-100 column using a ‘standard’ instrument setup Keywords: Trace elements, Seawater analysis, ICP-MS, Chelex-100, On-line pre-concentration

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

" Analysis of trace elements in seawater is challenging due to extremely low concentrations of most trace elements in seawater and the considerable influence of matrix elements such as Na, Mg, Ca, K and Cl. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) allows direct detection of trace elements at the sub-μg L−1 level but spectral and non-spectral interferences caused by the seawater matrix elements limits direct determination by ICP-MS. "

I’ma tempermental coral · Jul 31, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
ICP-MS is not necessarily "better". There are many interferences in seawater that have caused problems with interpretation issues. I had to suggest corrections to some papers that purported to show levels of trace elements in various salt mixes that used ICP-MS, but for which certain cross interferences messed up proper interpretation.

Trace elements determination in seawater by ICP-MS with on-line pre-concentration on a Chelex-100 column using a ‘standard’ instrument setup

Trace elements determination in seawater by ICP-MS with on-line pre-concentration on a Chelex-100 column using a ‘standard’ instrument setup - PMC

Method name: Trace elements determination in seawater by ICP-MS with on-line pre-concentration on a Chelex-100 column using a ‘standard’ instrument setup Keywords: Trace elements, Seawater analysis, ICP-MS, Chelex-100, On-line pre-concentration

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

" Analysis of trace elements in seawater is challenging due to extremely low concentrations of most trace elements in seawater and the considerable influence of matrix elements such as Na, Mg, Ca, K and Cl. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) allows direct detection of trace elements at the sub-μg L−1 level but spectral and non-spectral interferences caused by the seawater matrix elements limits direct determination by ICP-MS. "

After I posted that I did some reading last night and saw that Ca, Mg, and K were among the issues with icp-ms in seawater. But from my reading it seamed they should be easy enough to calibrate for. Well, for someone that knows what they are doing. I.e. not me lol. My father in law actually works in spectroscopy lol. He’s the guy that fixes the machines and calibrates them. I’m not all that inclined to all of this but I do listen to my husband and him talk about this stuff. So I pick up things here and there. So what about using oes for the things we see high concentrations of in seawater and ms for things that need the lower detection limits of ms? I’m not challenging your studies sir, just learning.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 31, 2020

I’ma tempermental coral said:
After I posted that I did some reading last night and saw that Ca, Mg, and K were among the issues with icp-ms in seawater. But from my reading it seamed they should be easy enough to calibrate for. Well, for someone that knows what they are doing. I.e. not me lol. My father in law actually works in spectroscopy lol. He’s the guy that fixes the machines and calibrates them. I’m not all that inclined to all of this but I do listen to my husband and him talk about this stuff. So I pick up things here and there. So what about using oes for the things we see high concentrations of in seawater and ms for things that need the lower detection limits of ms? I’m not challenging your studies sir, just learning.

The issue with using additional different methods of various sorts is cost. Triton pioneered a vastly lower cost than was previously provided by earlier companies such as ENC labs.

Here is what ENC labs says they do, and in the link you can see the substantial costs:

“
HOW IS IT DONE?
We have developed some unique ways of overcoming many interferences from the salt matrix. Combining this with state of the art instrumentation such as Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry, Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Ion Chromatography, Voltammetry, and other electrochemical techniques, we can accurately measure many elements and ions at very low levels in seawater, salts, and brine.”

www.enclabs.com