Trace element analysis spectrometry

Raw foods were freeze-dried and analyzed for carbon isotopes using mass spectrometry. Cooked foods were prepared following historic recipes, then were freeze-dried prior to analysis. For the trace element analysis, foods (both raw and cooked) were wet ashed using nitric acid in Teflon lined pressure vessels and digested in a CEM Microwave oven. Analysis of Sr, Zn, Fe, Ca and Mg was performed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in the Department of Geology, University of Calgary. 

Table 8.76 shows the main characteristics of voltammetry. Trace-element analysis by electrochemical methods is attractive due to the low limits of detection that can be achieved at relatively low cost. The advantage of using standard addition as a means of calibration and quantification is that matrix effects in the sample are taken into consideration. Analytical responses in voltammetry sometimes lack the predictability of techniques such as optical spectrometry, mostly because interactions at electrode/solution interfaces can be extremely complex. The role of the electrolyte and additional solutions in voltammetry are crucial. Many determinations are pH dependent, and the electrolyte can increase both the conductivity and selectivity of the solution. Voltammetry offers some advantages over atomic absorption. It allows the determination of an element under different oxidation states (e.g. Fe2+/Fe3+). 

Elemental Speciation - New Approaches for Trace Element Analysis Discrete Sample Introduction Techniques for Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry... 

The potential for the employment of plasma emission spectrometry is enormous and it is finding use in almost every field where trace element analysis is carried out. Some seventy elements, including most metals and some non-metals, such as phosphorus and carbon, may be determined individually or in parallel. As many as thirty or more elements may be determined on the same sample. Table 8.4 is illustrative of elements which may be analysed and compares detection limits for plasma emission with those for ICP-MS and atomic absorption. Rocks, soils, waters and biological tissue are typical of samples to which the method may be applied. In geochemistry, and in quality control of potable waters and pollution studies in general, the multi-element capability and wide (105) dynamic range of the method are of great value. Plasma emission spectrometry is well established as a routine method of analysis in these areas. 

Bethell. P. H. and Smith, J. U. (1989). Trace-element analysis of an inhumation from Sutton Hoo, using inductively coupled plasma emission-spectrometry - an evaluation of the technique applied to analysis of organic residues. Journal of Archaeological Science 16 47-55. 

In the following discussion, three types of air pollutant analytical data will be examined using principal component analysis and the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) procedure. A set of Interlaboratory comparison data from X-ray emission trace element analysis, data from a comparison of two methods for determining lead In gasoline, and results from gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis for volatile organic compounds In ambient air will be used as Illustrations. 

Trace element analysis was carried out on the ash by fusing with lithium metaborate, followed by dissolution in 10 % hydrochloric acid. The resulting solution was analysed using atomic emission and absorption spectrometry (AA). The method has been described previously (9). 

Trace elemental analysis of ancient ceramics has been proven a very useful tool for tracing the circulation of this material. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was for years the analytical technique of choice to measure the composition of ceramics because of the large number of elements it could determine and its good sensitivity. Lately, a few publications have shown that laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) could provide similar results as INAA more quickly and at lower cost. A protocol has been developed to determine 51 elements using LA-ICP-MS and tested it on Wari period ceramics previously analyzed using INAA. We show how INAA and LA-ICP-MS analysis lead to the same conclusion in terms of sample groupings. 

Schramel P. 1988. ICP and DCP emission spectrometry for trace element analysis in biomedical and environmental samples A review. Spectrochim Acta 43 881-896. 

A wide variety of solvents, reagents, and structural materials encountered normally in the trace-element analysis of seawater have been analyzed for trace-element impurities by neutron activation analysis and gamma (y)-ray spectrometry.17 Some of the results obtained for 10 trace elements are shown in Table 6.4 and indicate that many substances contain high impurity levels of various elements. Particular note should be made of the high concentrations of zinc in... 

One of the most challenging aspects of atomic spectrometry is the incredibly wide variety of sample types that require elemental analysis. Samples cover the gamut of solids, liquids, and gases. By the nature of most modem spectrochemical methods, the latter two states are much more readily presented to sources that operate at atmospheric pressure. The most widely used of these techniques are flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS and GF-AAS) [1,2] and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission and mass spectrometries (ICP-AES and MS) [3-5]. As described in other chapters of this volume, ICP-MS is the workhorse technique for the trace element analysis of samples in the solution phase—either those that are native liquids or solids that are subjected to some sort of dissolution procedure. 

Inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry is a standard method for trace elemental analysis. While sensitive and selective, these instruments are large and require considerable support solutions... 

R. G. L. Silva, S. N. Willie, R. E. Sturgeon, R. E. Santelli, S. M. Sella, Alkaline solubilization of biological materials for trace element analysis by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, Analyst, 124 (1999), 1843D1846. 

F. L. Fricke, Trace element analysis of food and beverages by atomic absorption spectrometry. Prog. Anal. Atom. Spectrosc., 2 (1979), 185-286. 

This chapter presents a rationale for the use of atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) for trace element analysis of air samples, and a comparison with other analytical methods currently in use. Sampling techniques, sample preparation and analytical methods, and applications to workplace and ambient atmospheres are also discussed. Step-by-step procedures will be given which can be used to analyze air-filter samples for a broad spectrum of possible analytes. 

Huo, D., Kingston, H.M., Larget, B. Application of isotope dilution in elemental speciation speciated isotope dilution mass spectrometry (SIDMS). In Caraso, J.A., Sutton, K.L., Ackley, K.L. (eds.) Elemental Speciation New Approaches for Trace Element Analysis, pp. 277-313. Elsevier Science B.V, Amsterdam (2000)... 

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry has been used extensively in the geological nuclear and analytical sciences for stable isotope measurements A new technique resonance ionization mass spectrometry offers a comprehensive approach to sensitive and selective elemental and isotopic analysis Recent developments in thermal and resonance ionization mass spectrometry are reviewed) and specific applications of the technology to zinc and calcium metabolism studies and to trace element analysis of foodstuffs are summarized ... 

X-ray fluorescence spectrometry Major, minor, trace elemental analysis... 

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