The sediment used in this study was BCR CRM
601. The material came from Lake Flumendosa (Sardinia,
Italy) and was prepared and homogenised at the
Joint Research Centre, Ispra (Italy). The major components
of the sediment (determined by X-ray ¯uorescence
spectrometry) are shown in Table 1, together
with other characteristics. Total Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and
Zn were determined by inductively-coupled plasma
atomic emission spectrometry (ICP/AES) following
total open, acidic attack in a sand bath using mixtures
of HNO3/H2O2 and HF/HClO4.