Pretreatment of plant samples for the determination of rhenium by ICP-MS

In order to determine trace levels of rhenium in plant samples by ICP-MS, a pretreatment method was developed. Ten radish samples (Raphanus sativus L.) grown in solution culture containing 184ReO4- were used in this study. The samples were separated into three parts (leaves, fleshy root and fine roots) then each sample was oven-dried at 60C. The Re loss ratios in the samples after incineration at 450C for 3 h and acid leaching at 90C for 3 h were compared. There was no difference of recoveries among the sample parts, and throughout the procedure, almost 100% Re was recovered from the samples