Capabilities and limitations of high-resolution - Inductively coupled plasma - Mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Coupling inductively coupled plasmas with sector field mass spectrometers has led to a remarkable improvement of the analytical capabilites in the field of trace element determinations during the last decade. Looking at the analysis of pure water, the limiting factors for determining metal concentrations in the ng/l range are shown. The sensitivity of modern instruments is high enough for most practical purposes, and in our case, the detection limits of all measured elements were limited by blank values. A key factor for the analysis of soil and sediment samples is the content of total dissolved solids. The spectral resolution has to match the requirements given by the spectroscopic interferences. Therefore, a pre-analysis is necessary for diagnostic purposes if the matrix is not sufficiently known to predict the relevant interferences.