Snow trace element determination

Trace element determination in polar snow and ice. An overview of the analytical process and application in environmental and paleoclimatic studies... 

The ideal analytical technique to be used in the challenging task of reconstructing past changes and recent variations in the concentration of trace substances in polar snow and ice should present several important features. Of these, extremely low detection limits, multi-element capability, low sample consumption and the possibility to avoid, as far as possible, any preconcentration step which could be a source of contamination are the most appreciated. Nevertheless, there is currently no technique with all the special features listed above several instrumental methods have been used in the past for trace element determination in polar snow and ice (see Table 3.4). 

A considerable advance in trace element determination in polar snow and ice was made during the 1980s by the use of ETA-AAS. The limitation of this technique... 

Trace element determination in alpine snow and ice by double focusing inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with microconcentric nebuliza-tion. ] Anal Atom Spectrom 14 1433-1438. 

Barbante, C., Cozzi, G., Capodaglio, G., andVan de Velde, K. (1999).Trace element determination in alpine snow and ice by double focusing inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with microconcentric nebulization./. Hnu/.Ht. Spectrom. 14(9), 1433. 

Bensimon M, Bourquin J, Parriaux A (2000) Determination of ultra-trace elements in snow samples by inductively-coupled plasma source sector field mass spectrometry using ultrasonic nebulization. J Anal Atom Spectrom 15 731-734... 

Table 3.4. Analytical techniques used for the determination of trace elements in polar snow and ice...

Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (AFS) (5, 58), quadrupole and double-focusing magnetic sector ICP-MS (59-63) have all been used in the past for the determination of trace element in polar snow and ice. Of those techniques only LEAFS, double-focusing magnetic sector ICP-MS and DPASV have proved capable of direct determination on the analytes in the samples at the required levels. 

Quadrupole ICP MS has been used for the determination of trace elements in snowfall in the remote Scottish Highlands at the ng/g level after preconcentration of samples by non-boiling evaporation (59, 60). Trace elements have been also determined in Arctic snow (Ellesmere Island) coupling a quadrupole ICP-MS with an Electrothermal Vaporization (ETV) system (61). In spite of the considerable improvement in terms of sensitivity achieved through the use of the ETV sample introduction system, the detection limits of quadrupole ICP-MS are still inadequate for the direct determination of trace elements in the snow and ice of remote polar regions. 

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