1 Scope
This part of ISO 17072 specifies a method for the determination of the total metal content in leather using digestion of the leather and subsequent determination with inductively coupled plasma/optical emission spectrometry (ICP/OES), or inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP/MS), or atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) or spectrometry of atomic fluorescence (SFA).
This method determines the total metal content in leather; it is not compound-specific or specific to the oxidation state of the metals.
The method is applicable for determining the following metals:
| Aluminium (Al) | Copper (Cu) | Potassium (K) |
| Antimony (Sb) | Iron (Fe) | Selenium (Se) |
| Arsenic (As) | Lead (Pb) | Silicon (Si) |
| Barium (Ba) | Magnesium (Mg) | Sodium (Na) |
| Cadmium (Cd) | Manganese (Mn) | Tin (Sn) |
| Calcium (Ca) | Mercury (Hg) | Titanium (Ti) |
| Chromium (Cr) (except chromium-tanned leathers) | Molybdenum (Mo) | Zinc (Zn) |
| Cobalt (Co) | Nickel (Ni) | Zirconium (Zr) |
The quantification limit of total lead is 8 mg/kg (see Annex A).
This part of ISO 17072 is not applicable to chromium-tanned leathers. In this case, ISO 5398-1, or ISO 5398-2, or ISO 5398-3, or ISO 5398-4 are used.