Determination of uranium in pore water from coastal sediment by standard addition ICP-MS analysis

Mass spectrometry using ICP-MS was applied to determine the uranium content in pore water samples through the standard addition method. This method requires less than 0.2 ml of a water sample, without any chemical separation. The sample solution (50 mg) was diluted with ∼1% HNO3 to make a total weight of 5.00 g, after the addition of uranium standard. The method introduced 1% of analytical precision for measured uranium in the samples. This rapid and simple technique allows multi-trace elemental quantification using mixed standards. The behavior of uranium in pore water and the variations of uranium content at different depths of pore water are discussed.