Source identification
Separate natural background, industrial inputs, mining legacies and urban signals using targeted isotope systems and multi-element geochemical tracers.
Monday, 21 September, 2026
Stable isotope technology
IsotopiX turns isotope and geochemical fingerprints into evidence you can act on. We work at the point where a concentration measurement stops being enough and the real question becomes where a signal came from, how it moved, and whether two signals share a source.
Peer-reviewed methods. Tailored to each site and matrix. Reports built to be defended.
What we solve
A concentration tells you that a problem exists. An isotope fingerprint tells you where it came from, how it travelled, and whether separate signals point back to the same source.
Separate natural background, industrial inputs, mining legacies and urban signals using targeted isotope systems and multi-element geochemical tracers.
Build defensible isotopic fingerprints to compare materials, authenticate provenance and document supply chain claims with quantitative evidence.
Deliver clear reports that connect analytical results to operational choices, regulatory obligations and stakeholder communication needs.
Application fields
IsotopiX works at the intersection of isotope geochemistry, environmental science and applied traceability, with protocols tailored to each client's constraints and goals.
Trace strategic metals, support responsible sourcing and document material origin across complex industrial supply chains.
Apply isotope fingerprints to metals, minerals, wood, luxury goods, certified products and archaeological or heritage materials.
Differentiate contamination sources and clarify transfer pathways to guide remediation strategies and site liability management.
Design robust analytical strategies for public organisations, research labs and international projects that need defensible evidence.
Analytical backbone
We combine laboratory expertise, geochemical interpretation and tailored reference datasets to turn complex analytical signals into evidence that can be discussed, defended and acted upon.
How we work
Every project starts from a precise decision question. The analytical strategy is then built around the isotope systems and reference materials that can genuinely answer it.
We define precisely what needs to be traced, compared or verified, and what level of certainty the outcome requires.
We choose the tracers and geochemical indicators that are most discriminating for the specific matrix and source configuration.
Samples are processed and measured with appropriate protocols, matched against reference databases and interpreted geochemically.
Results are presented in reports written for technical teams and decision-makers alike, with clear statements on what the data do and do not show.
Field study
In Oruro, Bolivia, acid mine drainage and a metal smelter send antimony into the same lake, in amounts too close to tell apart. Antimony isotopes separate the two, and weigh how much each one contributes as that balance shifts through the year.
On its own, a concentration says how much antimony is present, not where it came from. Being able to name the source, and to put a number on each one's share, is usually what a decision rests on: which operator answers for which part of the problem, whether a site is still taking in pollution or slowly clearing by itself, and whether remediation would change anything. Oruro is one case. The same reading applies wherever several sources overlap and the real question is which one to act on.
Read the paperWhy IsotopiX
The goal is not to produce more data. It is to produce a stronger interpretation, one that technical teams, decision makers and institutional partners can actually use.
Methods grounded in peer-reviewed isotope geochemistry, environmental tracing and quantitative source apportionment, with a publication record to back them up.
No generic package. The protocol is adapted to the question, the sample matrix, the budget and the level of evidential certainty required.
Reports explain what the data show, what stays uncertain, and what can be decided, without hiding behind jargon.
Scientific rigour converted into operational tools, for environmental consultancies, industrial actors, forensic teams and public institutions.
Scientific record
Our methods are not proprietary black boxes. They rest on published science, open to scrutiny, and kept current with the latest advances in isotope geochemistry.
A systematic review of Sb isotope systematics applied to contaminated watersheds, showing the diagnostic power of non-traditional isotope systems for emerging pollutants.
Read the paperA combined lead and antimony isotope study that resolves overlapping contamination signals at a complex industrial-legacy site.
Read the paperLaboratory study quantifying Sb isotope fractionation on schwertmannite and ferrihydrite, key data for reading field signatures in mine-impacted systems.
Read the paperCarbon and nitrogen isotopes measured across four compartments of Lake Titicaca show how anthropogenic discharge reshapes isotopic baselines at the ecosystem scale.
Read the paperCommon questions
If your question is not here, describe your case and we will tell you plainly whether isotopes can answer it.
A concentration measurement tells you how much of something is present. An isotope fingerprint carries information about where it came from and what it went through on the way. Two samples with the same concentration can have very different signatures, and that difference is often what separates a natural background from an industrial input, or tells two nearby sources apart.
It starts from the decision you need to make, not from a fixed menu. We look at the matrix, the candidate sources and the certainty the outcome requires, then choose the tracers that are actually discriminating for that situation. Sometimes one system is enough. Often a combination such as lead with antimony resolves what a single tracer would leave ambiguous.
A clear statement of the question and whatever context you already have: site history, suspected sources, existing data, sampling constraints. From there we propose a sampling and analytical plan before any measurement, so you know up front what the study can and cannot establish.
Reports are written to be defensible. They state what the data show, what stays uncertain, and how the interpretation was reached, so a technical reviewer or a third party can follow the reasoning rather than take a conclusion on trust.
Yes. Part of the work is designing robust analytical strategies for public organisations, research labs and international projects that need evidence able to withstand scrutiny.
Start a project
Tell us what you need to trace, compare or verify. We will help you define the right isotope strategy and the clearest route to usable evidence, at the right scale and budget.
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