Optical Emission Inductively Coupled Plasma in Environmental Analysis

Abstract

The ability of the ICP‐OES (or AES) [inductively coupled plasma‐optical (or atomic) emission spectroscopy] system to perform multielement trace metal analysis of environmental samples provided commercial laboratories with the needed incentive to enter into the business of efficient trace metal analysis. Previously, trace metals were typically analyzed using colorimetric techniques, which were both cumbersome and subject to interferences, or flame atomic absorption techniques, which although almost interference free, were labor intensive owing to their one element at a time analytical mode. Even the furnace atomic absorption technique, for years the standard bearer of low‐level trace metal analysis, is giving way to axial and radial viewed ICP‐OES techniques. Now, ICP‐OES has become an affordable and well‐established multielement analytical method for environmental sample analysis. The method has been successfully applied for wide range of sample matrices and analytical applications, and the availability of new generation of High‐resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma‐Optical Emission Spectroscopy [(HR)‐ICP‐OES] has offered new opportunities. Taking the USEPA (the United States Environmental Protection Agency) SW‐846 solid waste analysis manual as an example, this article reviews the methods used for the preparation of samples and the ICP‐OES analysis of the prepared samples for trace metals in environmental matrices. This review includes recent developments in front‐end improvements in ICP‐OES and detailed overview of the quality control (QC) requirements for environmental ICP‐OES analysis.