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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Measuring 0.01‰ to 0.1‰ isotopic variations by MC-ICPMS - Testing limits for the first time with Pb δ-iCRMs
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Volume 24, No. 4, Year 2009
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Description
A blind comparison on Pb-isotope δ-scale measurements by MC-ICPMS of 0.01‰ to 0.1‰ level was organised, involving five laboratories. Test samples were obtained from the series of candidate ERM-3810 δ-isotopic Certified Reference Materials (δ-iCRMs), and comprise four pairs of a material with ∼natural Pb-isotopic composition ('delta zero' or 'δ-0') and the same natural Pb progressively enriched in 207Pb (with δ207Pb values certified to ∼0.1% relative uncertainty, k = 2). Participants were free to apply the measurement strategy of their choice. A result was considered 'acceptable' only when, simultaneously, there was agreement within stated uncertainties with the corresponding reference value and the relative uncertainty stated by the participant was < 100%. This study illustrates the high degree of difficulty inherent to these δ-scale measurements by 'routine' MC-ICPMS methodologies (in this case, three participants reported 55% of their results which were deemed accurate, and the other two reported none). The closer to unity the isotope ratio value the better the results became ('acceptable' results mostly for δ7/6‰ and δ7/8‰ measurements). This first experiment of its kind demonstrates that Pb δ-scale isotopic measurements by MC-ICPMS can be reliably carried out down to 0.05‰ levels (two participants delivered accurate results above this threshold systematically for δ7/6‰, δ7/8‰ and δ7/4‰). Below this limit, at ∼0.01‰ and ∼ 0.03‰ levels, results are no longer consistent or reproducible and appear to be susceptible to a number of effects introducing error (such as short term changes in mass discrimination) which are either not well understood, or not controlled and/or not corrected for at a sufficiently low level of uncertainty. These results also suggest that 'routine' methods for absolute (calibrated) Pb-isotope ratio determination by MC-ICPMS produce relative combined uncertainties on results which are unlikely to be better than 0.05‰ (k = 2). © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2009.
Authors & Co-Authors
Quétel, Christophe R.
Belgium, Brussels
European Commission Joint Research Centre
Ponzevera, Emmanuel
Belgium, Brussels
European Commission Joint Research Centre
France, Plouzane
Ifremer Institut Francais de Recherche Pour L'exploitation de la Mer
Rodushkin, Ilia
Sweden, Lulea
Als Scandinavia ab
Gerdes, A. G.
Germany, Frankfurt am Main
Goethe-universität Frankfurt am Main
Williams, Ross W.
United States, Livermore
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Woodhead, Jon D.
Australia, Melbourne
University of Melbourne
Statistics
Citations: 10
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1039/b821403b
ISSN:
13645544
Research Areas
Disability
Study Approach
Quantitative