Certification of a fish otolith reference material in support of quality assurance for trace element analysis

R. E. Sturgeon; S. N. Willie; L. Yang; R. Greenberg; R. O. Spatz; Z. Chen; C. Scriver; V. Clancy; J. W. Lam; S. Thorrold

doi:10.1039/B503655K

Certification of a fish otolith reference material in support of quality assurance for trace element analysis†

R. E. Sturgeon,*^a S. N. Willie,^a L. Yang,^a R. Greenberg,^b R. O. Spatz,^b Z. Chen,^c C. Scriver,^a V. Clancy,^a J. W. Lam^a and S. Thorrold^d

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^a National Research Council Canada, Institute for National Measurement Standards, Ottawa, ON, Canada
E-mail: ralph.sturgeon@nrc.ca
Fax: 01 613 993 2451
Tel: 01 613 993 6395

^b National Institute for Standards and Technology, Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

^c Laboratory for Isotope and Trace Element Research Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA

^d Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, USA

Abstract

Production and certification activities relating to the development of a new Certified Reference Material (FEBS-1) based on a fish otolith matrix are described. The material was prepared from 4.5 kg of dried saggital otolith harvested from the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), ball milled and sieved to <200 mesh, homogenized, irradiated, bottled into 1 g aliquots and certified for major, minor and trace element composition using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), isotope dilution-ICP-MS, neutron activation, ICP-optical emission spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence. Several laboratories participated in this activity, providing for a robust estimate of each measurand. Certified values for seven elements (Ba, Ca, Li, Mg, Mn, Na and Sr) are reported, accompanied by full GUM uncertainty estimates. Reference values for Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn are also provided; these elements were considered to be not certifiable because of the large component of uncertainty contributed by homogeneity. This CRM will be of interest to those laboratories requiring quality assurance of measurements of bulk elemental composition of otoliths and other marine aragonites.

Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry

Certification of a fish otolith reference material in support of quality assurance for trace element analysis†

Abstract

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Certification of a fish otolith reference material in support of quality assurance for trace element analysis

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