This application note describes a method for monitoring heavy metals using ICP-OES to ensure compliance with RoHS and WEEE directives.
The document discusses the European Union's RoHS and WEEE Directives regarding hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. It identifies Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) as a suitable analytical technique for determining heavy metals like Cadmium, Lead, Chromium, and Mercury.
The text details the operating parameters of an Agilent 710-ES axial ICP-OES instrument equipped with an echelle polychromator and megapixel CCD detector. It further evaluates various sample preparation methods—specifically comparing EN 1122, HNO3/H2O2 digestion, and EPA Method 3051A microwave digestion—for analyzing heavy metals in plastic samples.
The text states that a heating temperature of 95 °C is not high enough to decompose the plastic material.
Closed vessel microwave digestion is the only method to get complete recovery of Hg.