British Standards BS 4072 (1974) and BS 5666: Part 3 (1979) detail an atomic absorption spectrophotometric method for the quantitative determination of copper, chrome and arsenic in both preservative solutions and treated timber. Use of this technique during a research programme at Aberdeen has highlighted some potential inaccuracies with this method if these standard specifications are adhered to rigidly. These involve the standards specifying the production of inappropriate concentrations of solutions for calibration purposes and "unknowns" for analysis. Possible methods of avoiding these problems are discussed.

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