Abstract:The sample analysis of the soil contamination investigation in nationwide key industry enterprises is characterized by complex analytes and a variety of analytical methods. However, existing standard methods for soil sample testing suffer from a limitation which lack simultaneous determination aiming at most inorganic elements. Here we report an analytical method to decompose soil samples by HF-HNO3 in a sealed device and determine 49 elements by high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS): Li,Be,Ti,V,Cr,Mn,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn,Ga,Ge,As,Rb,Sr,Zr,Nb,Mo,Cd,In,Sn,Sb,Te,Cs,Ba,Hf,Ta,W,Tl,Pb,Bi,Th,U and REEs. The mass spectral interferences and the selection of measured element isotopes were systematically studied. Furthermore, the method performance was investigated through using national first-class certified soil reference materials. The method detection limits of 49 elements were 0.001~0.46 mg/kg. The range of precision (RSD, n=8) was 0.75%~8.9%. The range of accuracy (RE) for Be,As,Cd and Sb was -5.4%~7.4% and the range of accuracy (ΔlgC) for other elements except tellurium was -0.05~0.04. The results indicate that the main technical parameters of the method meet the requirements of 13 standard methods for soil contamination investigation and the method can provide an efficient means for multi-elements analysis in the investigation work.