Elemental Microanalysis News

Elemental Microanalysis is pleased to announce a new range of synthetic soil standards.
•    B2237 is a loamy soil standard
•    B2230 is a high organic content soil standard
•    B2233 is a medium organic content soil standard

Elemental’s new range of synthetic soils are made from pure mineral and chemical ingredients and are blended to exactly match the elemental make-up of natural soils.

Benefits of synthetic soil standards:
•    Not subject to the same export legislation and control, meaning they can be shipped worldwide.
•    The make-up of the ingredients can be specifically tailored to match the needs of the scientific community while producing a full range of organic contents.
•    Improved consistency across consecutive batches, compared to collected soils. 

Traditionally, soil standards provided by Elemental Microanalysis originated from UK soil. The natural soils were collected around the United Kingdom by Elemental’s laboratory team from different locations to deliver a range of soil types:  e.g. peaty, sandy, chalky, etc. Processing the soils involved laboriously removing anything that was not soil (all the stones, twigs, worms, etc.); drying, milling, and homogenising the batch.  Finally, the soil would be sent away for irradiation to preserve and sterilise the product. Many countries place import restrictions on soils and plant material, so exporting Elemental’s original soil standards could be a lengthy and expensive undertaking.

 Additional synthetic soil standards (sandy, peaty, silty, clay, chalky,) are under development at Elemental to better mimic the range of soils previously collected, processed, and produced in the past. The technical team at Elemental Microanalysis is excited to continue to manufacture meaningful solutions for customers.