ISO 17072-2:2011 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 aluminium (Al), antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), calcium (Ca), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), potassium (K), selenium (Se), silicon (Si), sodium (Na), tin (Sn), titanium (Ti), zinc (Zn), and zirconium (Zr).

The quantification limit of total lead is 8 mg/kg.

ISO 17072-2:2011 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.