Inductively coupled plasma isotope detection limits

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is a relatively new technique for elemental analysis and has superior limits of detection over optical methods. Also, this technique has an order of magnitude better detection limit than that obtained by the conventional fluorometric method. Uranium has many stable and unstable isotopes but 238U has the largest percentage abundance (99.274%). 

Since the introduction of the first commercial instrument in 1983, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has become widely accepted as a powerful technique for elemental analysis. Two excellent books on ICP-MS have been published [1,2]. ICP-MS provides rapid, multielement analysis with detection limits at single parts part trillion or below for about 40 to 60 elements in solution and a dynamic range of 104 to 108. These are the main reasons most ICP-MS instruments have been purchased. Two additional, unique capabilities of ICP-MS have also contributed to its commercial success elemental isotope ratio measurements and convenient semiquantitative analysis. The relative sensitivities from element to element are predictable enough that semiquantitative analysis (with accuracy within a factor of 2 to 5) for up to 80 elements can be obtained using a single calibration solution containing a few elements and a blank solution. 

Analytical Methods and Speclatlon Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry (ETAAS), differential pulse adsorption voltammetry (DPAV), isotope-dilution mass spectrometry (ID-MS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) furnish the requisite sensitivity for measurements of nickel concentrations in biological, technical and environmental samples (Aggarwal et al. 1989, Case et al. 2001, Stoeppler and Ostapczuk 1992, Templeton 1994, Todorovska et al. 2002, Vaughan and Templeton 1990, Welz and Sperling 1999). The detection limits for nickel determinations by ETAAS analysis with Zeeman background correction are approximately 0.45 jg for urine,... 

The objectives of this study were to quantify the trace metals in PM2 5 of Eastern and Western Canada, to analyze their annual and seasonal trends and identify their source origin, by evaluating a database of trace metal concentrations obtained over a 2-year period (May 2004-December 2006) from the NAPS network. Over 1000 PM2 5 samples collected at seven selected sites were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after microwave assisted acid digestion. This technique offers low detection limits, wide linear dynamic range, multielement capability, ability to measure isotope ratios and high sample throughput. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used to identify sources of trace metals at each sampling site. 

One unique type of MS, ICP-MS, needs to be discussed separately because it does not deal with molecular species, but with atomic ones. The inductively coupled plasma is a common atomization source for atomic spectrometry. This sample preparation/ sample introduction mode has been coupled with an MS to yield an instrument capable of trace level elemental analysis. Each element has a unique set of isotopes in known proportions. These can be used to quantify the element. In the case of elements with overlapping isotopic mass numbers, simple deconvolution can be used to give results for each. ICPMS has very low detection limits. 

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