Analytical chemists from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) have excelled in a challenge between 25 international laboratories to test the accuracy of their measurements of trace elements.
The Australian team was the only participating laboratory to achieve a 100 per cent success rate for the proscribed task of measuring trace elements in both marine sediments and biological tissues.
Led by David Hill, with contributions from Robert Chisari, Geetha Rajaratnam and Henri Wong, the ANSTO team took part in an international trial run by the Canadian National Research Council under the auspices of the US-based National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
The team, whose results have been rated "superior" for the last three years, used ANSTOs facilities for x-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.
David Hill said that the teams success could be put down to the fact that ANSTO had been performing this kind of work for a long time and is constantly striving to improve.
Surveys of trace elements are important for researchers trying to establish various influences on environments, including whether or not they are being polluted by heavy metals.
The success should instil confidence in researchers from universities currently working collaboratively with ANSTO, including those from the University of Sydney, University of Newcastle, and La Trobe University. Subjects under investigation include levels of tritium in water, heavy metals in Sydney Harbour and trace elements in caves.
The ANSTO team is currently looking to expand its expertise in isotopic analysis, and the speciation of elements in the environment.