Determination of low silicon concentrations in food and coral soil by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

To avoid a positive systematic error in the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric determination of silicon, a new microwave dissolution procedure incorporating tertiary amine addition was developed. The determination of low silicon concentration levels in food and coral soils was significantly improved by adding water-soluble tertiary amines to the solution after dissolution with HF. Better accuracy and precision, and an improved detection limit (75 ng ml-1 of Si) were obtained with amine addition than without.