BS EN 16173:2012

This standard BS EN 16173:2012 Sludge, treated biowaste and soil. Digestion of nitric acid soluble fractions of elements is classified in these ICS categories:

• 13.080.10 Chemical characteristics of soils
• 13.030.01 Wastes in general

This European Standard specifies a method for microwave digestion of sludge, treated biowaste and soil using nitric acid.

This method is applicable for microwave-assisted nitric acid digestion of sludge, treated biowaste and soils for the following elements:

Aluminium (Al), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), bismuth (Bi), boron (B), cadmium (Cd), calcium (Ca), cerium (Ce), cesium (Cs), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), gold (Au), hafnium (Hf), holmium (Ho), indium (In), iridium (Ir), iron (Fe), lanthanum (La), lead (Pb), lithium (Li), lutetium (Lu), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), neodymium (Nd), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), phosphorus (P), platinum (Pt), potassium (K), praseodymium (Pr), rubidium (Rb), rhenium (Re), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), selenium (Se), silicon (Si), sodium (Na), strontium (Sr), sulphur (S), tellurium (Te), terbium (Tb), thallium (Tl), thorium (Th), thulium (Tm), titanium (Ti), tungsten (W), uranium (U), vanadium (V), ytterbium (Yb), yttrium (Y), zinc (Zn), and zirconium (Zr).

This European Standard may also be applicable for the digestion of other elements.

Digestion with nitric acid will not necessarily accomplish total decomposition of the sample. The extracted analyte concentrations may not necessarily reflect the total content in the sample.