Working standards for fluoride (F–) were prepared from a (100.0 ± 0.5) mg/L-certified standard solution (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). A Merck-IV-certified ICP multi-element standard solution ((1001 ± 10) mg/L, aluminium) was used to prepare working standards for aluminium (Al). A 0.050 mol/L working solution of sodium fluoride was prepared by dissolving NaF (Merck) in water.
The accuracy of the calibration curve for F– was checked with another certified F– standard solution and for Al with an Inorganic Ventures certified-quality standard IV-ICPMS-71A ((10.01 ± 0.04) mg/L, aluminium) (Christiansburg, VA, USA).
Samples were weighed into brown tea filter Cilia size M (Melitta, Minden, Germany). The 0.45 µm polytetrafluoroethylene hydrophobic membrane filters (25 mm diameter) from Machery Nagel (Dueren, Germany) were used for filtration with a 10 mL syringe Chirana (Stará Turá, Slovakia).