Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory-Determination of dissolved aluminum and boron in water by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry is a sensitive, rapid, and accurate method for determining the dissolved concentration of aluminum and boron in water samples. The method detection limits are 5 micrograms per liter for aluminum and 4 micrograms per liter for boron. For aluminum, low-level (about 30 micrograms per liter) short-term precision (single-operator, seven days) is about 5 percent relative standard deviation and the low-level long-term precision (single-operator, nine months) is about 8 percent relative standard deviation. For boron, the low-level short-term precision is about 4 percent relative standard deviation, and the low-level long-term precision is about 5 percent relative standard deviation. Spike recoveries for aluminum ranged from 86 to 100 percent, and recoveries for boron ranged from 92 to 109 percent.