INTRODUCTION Some of the sources of trace elements as pollutants are, vehicle emission, agricultural, industrial and shipping activities 1-3 . The health risk of trace elements in aquatic environment and subsequent uptake in the food chain by aquatic organisms and humans, can results in morphological abnormalities and genetic alteration of cells. In addition, trace elements can affect enzymatic and hormonal activities 1 . It is important to evaluate metal content in sediments because ORIENTAL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY www.orientjchem.org Est. 1984 An International Open Free Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal ISSN: 0970-020 X CODEN: OJCHEG 2013, Vol. 29, No. (2): Pg. Determination of Some Trace Elements in Marine Sediment using ICP-MS and XRF: A Comparative Study AMEL YOUSIF AHMED 1 , MD. PAUZI ABDULLAH 1-2 , ABDUL KHALIK WOOD 3 , M. SUHAIMI HAMZA 3 and MOHAMED ROZALI OTHMAN 1-2 1 School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. 2 Centre of Water Research and Analysis, Faculty of Science, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. 3 Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Malaysia. *Corresponding author E-mail: mpauzi@ukm.my (Received: September 12, 2012; Accepted: November 04, 2012) ABSTRACT Marine sediment samples were collected from 22 sampling sites along the coastal area of Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia at various depths. The samples were digested using microwave program and then analyzed for Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Cr, Co, Cd, As, V, Ni and Pb. For comparison purpose a direct measurement of solid samples was carried out using XRF. Results obtained by ICP-MS were compared with those obtained from XRF using different statistical methods such as two side t-test and paired t-test. Quality control of the obtained data was carried out using different standard reference materials. Key words: ICP-MS, XRF, trace elements, marine sediment. under certain conditions, sediment can act as a sink as well as a source of metals. Moreover, the amount of a given metal that can be released from contaminated sediment depends critically on the metal species 4 . Both X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) are widely used as multi-elemental analytical techniques to study metals in water and sediment 5 . ICP-MS is a very rapid, multielement and accurate analytical technique with very low