4. Solution treatment of solid samples
Solid samples collected during a sampling campaign are generally not sufficiently homogeneous for analysis purposes. This requires preliminary treatment to obtain a more representative sub-sample with a finer particle size. For dry solid samples of a certain hardness (soils, sediments...), these treatments consist in grinding (dry or liquid), either manually (mortar) or mechanically (ball mills, rings, discs, hammers...), using various materials of suitable hardness (steel, agate, boron or tungsten carbides, corundum...). The homogenization of less resistant solid samples (plant and animal tissues, foodstuffs, etc.) is usually carried out using a variety of mixers. Some fresh organic samples can be made more crumbly by freezing in liquid nitrogen, making them easier to grind.
Samples may be pre-dried at room temperature in air (especially for mercury determination)...
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Solution treatment of solid samples
Mineralization: decomposition of organic matter
Bibliography
References
Website
American site devoted entirely to sample preparation (Duquesne University)
Standardization
Unlike the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States, French standardization (AFNOR) was only very late in taking an interest in the preparation of environmental samples. This is probably due to the excessive diversity of samples and the division of standardization committees. However, some of them, such as metallurgy, fertilizers and fertilizer materials, drew up standards as early as 1965 to 1975. In...
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