Romanian Reports in Physics, Vol. 64, No. 1, P. 221–231, 2012 METHOD VALIDATION FOR DETERMINATION OF METALS IN SOILS BY ICP-MS * C. VOICA 1 , A. DEHELEAN 1 , A. IORDACHE 2 , I. GEANA 2 1 National Institute for Research & Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technology, 71-103 Donath Str., P.O. Box 700 RO-400293, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, E-mail: cezara_voica@yahoo.com 2 National Research & Development Institute of Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies – ICSI Rm. Valcea, 4 Uzinei St., 240050, Rm. Valcea, Romania, E-mail: andreea.iordache@icsi.ro Received November 3, 2010 Abstract. In this study a method of quantitative analysis for the determination of metals in soils by ICP-MS was validated and applied. ICP-MS is a multi-element technique characterized by high selectivity, sensitivity and detection limits much lower than other multi-element techniques [4]. Key words: soil, ICP-MS, method validation. 1. INTRODUCTION Soils represent a matrix with inherent heterogeneity and variable mineral composition leading to analytical complexity. This challenge has been recognized by the soil community and consequently, acceptable precision and accuracy for digestion methods has been reported as typically < 20% [1, 2]. The pollution of the environment increased rapidly during the last years, especially the contamination of soil and groundwater. There is an increasing need to determine concentration of contamination rapidly and precisely, in particular those of toxic heavy metals. Heavy metals are widespread pollutants of great environmental concern as they are nondegradable, toxic and persistent [3]. Different natural and artificial sources of pollution can pollute the soil and sediments with heavy metals. The most important sources of heavy metals in the environment are the following: the stationary incinerators for urban residues, the metallurgical industry, chemical industry, the construction industry, the mines, traffic, agriculture as well as domestic activities [4, 5]. Chemical and metallurgical industries are the most important sources of heavy metals in soils and sediments * Paper presented at the National Conference on Physics, September 23–25, 2010, Iaşi, Romania.