Spectrophotometric determination of trace amounts of beryllium in silicate materials

Although photometric determination of beryllium is generally quite satisfactory in trace analysis, application to geochemical samples is restricted because of the numerous interfering ions. Introduction of an extraction procedure eliminates the interference of Al and Fe, which occur in high concentrations in most silicate rocks, and enables beryllium to be determined with Eriochrome Cyanine R. Use of the method for analysis of six international geochemical reference samples containing between 1 and 30 ppm beryllium has given satisfactory results (relative standard deviation from 1.6 to 7.8%). (author)