Using ICP-MS to Detect Inorganic Elements in Organic Materials: A New Tool to Identify Mordants or Dyes on Ancient Textiles

摘要

The feasibility of determining metallic elements used as mordants or dyes with inorganic constituents was tested using inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). For this purpose, modern, historic and archaeological samples were investigated. Mordants containing copper, iron, tin, aluminium or uranium were successfully identified as well as an organic dye with a substitutional bromine.