The 2006 paper by Georg Steinhauser, Johannes H. Sterba, Karin Poljanc, Max Bichler and Karl Buchtela is an important laboratory study of trace elements in rock salt. It analysed 18 rock-salt samples from Austria, Germany, Pakistan, Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine.
More information on this topic is available in the Georg Steinhauser section.
Analytical Method
The researchers used instrumental neutron activation analysis to determine trace elements.
This technique allows many elements to be examined within the same analytical framework and is widely used for trace-level elemental analysis.
Elements Detected
The abstract lists Al, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th and Zn among the detected elements.
The authors explicitly note that some elements occurred only in individual samples rather than across the complete set.
Acid-Solubility Experiment
In a second part of the study, an amount equivalent to the sodium-chloride samples was dissolved in dilute hydrochloric acid to simulate stomach acid.
Insoluble material was filtered off and the evaporated filtrate was analysed, allowing the authors to estimate the potential bioavailability of trace elements through their solubility in an acidic environment.
Variation Among Rock Salts
Analysing samples from six countries within one study provides a useful basis for examining how natural rock salts may differ in their trace-element profiles according to geological origin.
Rock salt should therefore be understood as a natural mineral material dominated by halite but capable of containing variable geological impurities and trace elements.
Publication Record
The paper appeared in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, is indexed in PubMed as PMID 16959591 and carries DOI 10.1016/j.jtemb.2006.06.001.
It will serve as a core laboratory-chemistry reference in the World Rock Salt Research library.
Related article: Steinhauser, Sterba, Poljanc, Bichler and Buchtela.
Related article: Acid Solubility of Trace Elements in Rock Salt.
Sources
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