Abstract. Sixteen soil and sedimentary geological
reference materials were analysed for As and the heavy
metals Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn by inductively
coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICPAES)
and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
(ICP-MS) in combination with total and partial
dissolution of the samples. It can be demonstrated that
none of the modern ICP methods is completely free
from analytical problems. This applies in particular
when the concentrations are close to the detection
limits (e.g. in ICP-AES) and is mainly due to the wide
variation in the bulk composition of soils resulting in
complex matrix effects (e.g. in ICP-MS). In order to
determine the extent of soil pollution by heavy metals,
both partial and total dissolution have to be performed
prior to analysis.