Sources Used

1.     http://www.epa.gov/esd/cmb/research/JN101.pdf

This webpage compares XRF to ICP along with two other techniques. In summary ICP has always been the preferred method for the EPA in testing soil and water samples. XRF would be a faster and cheaper technique although it has higher variation in data. If many samples are taken, XRF makes sense to use.

2.     http://crustal.usgs.gov/laboratories/icpms/intro.html

This webpage talks about what ICP. It becomes easier to compare it to XRF when actually knowing what it entails. The article goes over every part of the machine an how it works.

3.     http://www.epa.gov/superfund/lead/products/xrffaqs.pdf

This is a great page to look about any questions you might have about XRF. For me I wanted to know if the machine could analyze water.

4.     http://www.vhglabs.com/Products/product_details.php?id=18700&pp=

This is the webpage I will be purchasing my CRMs from.

5.     http://water.usgs.gov/owq/topics.html

6.     http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/

These are the webpages I found my water standards at. This will give me an idea of how dangerous the readings coming off my samples are. These are all standards decided on by the EPA.

7.     http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/lrca.html

8.     http://www.algreatlakes.com/PDF/factsheets/ALGLFS25_Metal_Concentrations_in_Natural_Soils.pdf

The first source informed me of the soil standards I could use to compare my soil data with. I was going off of the guidelines set by the RCRA. The last source is also great for looking at naturally occurring levels of heavy metals.