[en] he knowledge of the elemental composition of soil, and especially its trace element content is of interest to many investigators active in various fields of research. Among these concerned are not only agricultural chemists and soil scientists, but also biochemists, environmentalists, nutritionists and others. The increased recognition of the essentially on one hand and toxicity on the other, of certain trace elements towards animals and man, has led to intensified studies of the pathways of trace elements in nature, particularly in the environmental research. Not only atmosphere, hydrosphere and biological tissues, but also soil is examined. Essential and toxic trace elements may pass from soil to plants (by which they are sometimes effectively concentrated) and further through food chains to Man. The interest in the analysis of soil for the content of many trace and also some major elements is therefore rapidly increasing. Hence, there seems to be an obvious need for a reference material with established 'recommended values' of as many elements as possible which could be used for checking the quality of analytical work of the laboratories engaged in soil analyses. At the same time well-characterized soil, containing high levels of minerals can be also of interest for geochemists as a complement to already existing geochemical reference samples