Validation of a digestion procedure for ICP-AES and dynamic reaction cell ICP-MS for trace elemental analysis in environmental samples

Abstract

Due to chloride polyatomic interferences, hydrochloric acid is not recommended for preparation of samples analysed by ICP-MS and separate digestion procedures are used for ICP-MS and ICP-AES. Here we demonstrate that a single digestion procedure using a mixture of HNO 3 and HCl can be used for ICP-AES and dynamic reaction cell (DRC)-ICP-MS. Hotplate, block digester and microwave digestion were investigated. For a quantitative recovery of 26 elements including Ag, Sb and Ti from waters, soils and sediments, the final concentration of 10% (v/v) HCl in the digest is required regardless of the digestion techniques. The method detection limits of 0.3-1.2 lg/L were obtained for chloride-interfering elements As, V, Cr and Se by DRC-ICP-MS using ammonia and oxygen as the DRC gas.

Method development and validation of simultaneous determination of seventeen metals in water by ICP/MS

“…Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP-MS, has become to be one of the most attractive detection systems and is routinely used in many diverse research fields such as earth, environmental, life and forensic sciences and in food, material, chemical and nuclear industries [9]. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is powerful technique for trace analysis of elements and it is preferred for ultratrace levels due to its higher sensitivity [10][11][12]. ICP-MS is a multi-element technique for analyzing liquid samples, characterized by high selectivity, sensitivity and detection limits much lower than other multi-element techniques.…”