AbstractCompton scattered radiation has been used as an internal standard to compensate for matrix absorption effects; it has also been used separately for background correction. In this work, the simultaneous matrix and background correction method was developed, in which both matrix absorption effects and background correction are performed simultaneously, thereby reducing the measurement time; this is particularly important when dealing with large numbers of samples. It also obviates the problem in the conventional method of correcting for the background when the interference‐free background position near the spectral peaks cannot be found. Application of this method to a large number of geological standard reference materials yields values of trace element concentrations in good agreement with their recommended value