Inductively coupled plasma mass isobaric interferences

In inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, isobaric interference occurs between species with the same mass and charge. Interference can be eliminated if the mass spectral resolution is sufficiently great or by dissociating an interfering polyatomic species with a collision cell. When laser ablation is used to sample a solid, matrix-matched standards are often necessary for quantitative analysis. 

Carey, J. M., Evans, E. H., Caruso, J. A., and Wei-Lung, S. (1991). Evaluation of a modified commercial graphite furnace for reduction of isobaric interferences in argon inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Spectrochim. Acta, Part B 46B(13), 1711. 

Park, C. J., Cho, K. H., Suh, J. K., and Han, M. S. (2000) Determination of cadmium in sediment reference materials by isotope dilution by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with correction of tin isobaric interference using mass bias equations. J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 15, 567-70. 

The use of inductively coupled plasma IDMS has not been successfully applied to the trace level of analysis for elements with mass below 82 amu due to interferences from other isobaric components in the plasma [44]. This problem could be avoided by using a high-resolution mass analyzer in place of the quadrupole, but this would increase the cost and complexity of the analysis. A complete description of this methodology is given in Chap. 12. 

Koyanagi, G. K., Baranov,V. I., Tanna S. D., and Bohme, D. K. (2000) An inductively coupled plasma/selected-ion flow tube mass spectrometric study of the chemical resolution of isobaric interferences. J. Anal. At. Spectmm., 15,1207. 

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