scope:

This document specifies three methods for the digestion of soil, treated biowaste, sludge and waste by the use of an acid mixture composed of hydrochloric (HCl), nitric (HNO₃) and tetrafluoroboric (HBF₄) or hydrochloric (HCl), nitric (HNO₃) and hydrofluoric (HF) acid as the digestion solution.

Digestion with these acids is effectively considered as a total decomposition of the sample. For a broad range of samples the extracted analyte concentrations will reflect the total content in the sample.

This document is applicable for the following elements:

Aluminium (Al), antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), calcium (Ca), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), selenium (Se), silver (Ag), sodium (Na), strontium (Sr), sulfur (S), tellurium (Te), thallium (Tl), tin (Sn), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn).

This document can also be applied for the digestion of other elements, provided the user has verified the applicability.