Determination Of Harmful Elements In Jewelry By X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

Harmful elements of the health hazards and environmental pollution are gettingmore attention gradually. For that reason, Nations are studying the development ofrelevant laws and regulations to control and detect it. In the jewelry industry, ourcountry has formulated national compulsory standards to limit the use of hazardoussubstances in jewelry. The current method to detect the harmful elements in jewelry isInductively coupled plasma-atomic emission (ICP) spectrometry(ICP-AES), which isdestructive. Thus, establishing a rapid non-destructive method is significance. X-rayfluorescence spectroscopy is internationally recognized as an initial screening methodto detect harmful substances.In this thesis, it is the first time that X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is used forthe determination of harmful elements in jewelry. According to the alloys which arecommonly used in the manufacture of precious metal jewelry in market, acorresponding set of standard samples were made, and the testing procedures wereestablished. Then the experiments on detection of limit were conducted, and thevarious factors that may affect the test results were analyzed. Furthermore, thedetermination method to discriminate the test results was investigated through a seriesof verification experiments. The experimental results showed that, this method basedon X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy can provide accurate determination. Finally,according to above research, we developed a standard method called―Jewelry–harmful element determination X-ray fluorescence spectrometry‖, which has beensubmitted for approval.The compilation of this standard method fulfills the domestic blank standard, andprovides a technical guidance and test basis for determination agencies and relatedbusinesses for the use of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry on harmful elements ofjewelry.