Preparo de lote piloto de sedimento estuarino candidato a material de referência de composição química elementar

The sediments are solid materials deposited at the bottom of water bodies. The toxic heavy metals tend to be deposited as sediments, so they are monitored after being dredged to ensure their correct disposal. As there are no Brazilian reference materials for sediments, chemical-analysis laboratories use imported materials to control the quality of their measurements. In this work, a pilot batch of material was prepared from a sediment collected in the Upper Estuary of Santos (SP). The chemical characterization of the material was performed by ICP-OES and ICP-MS, using alkaline fusion or microwave digestion to sample dissolution according to the element to be analyzed. A material with a narrow particle size distribution and suitable homogeneity was obtained. The applied methodologies and the preparation process developed are suitable for the preparation of a future certified reference material. Keywords: sediment; reference material; ICP-OES; ICP-MS.