ICP-MS
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Agilent 7900 Benchtop Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer system - ICP-MS
Agilent_ICP-MS 7900_Specifications.pdf
EPA methods:
Method 6020 : Inductively Coupled - Mass Spectrometry;
Method 200.8: Determination of trace elements in waters and wastes by Inductively Coupled - Mass Spectrometry.
In addition to a traditional quantitative analysis, the ICP-MS allows to perform fast semi-quantitative analysis of unknown samples, when an external calibration is not required (it is accurate to +/-30% or better on completely unknown samples).
The ICP-MS serves the purpose of performing metals analysis on solution. It can be used for the determination of metals in a wide variety of sample types (drinking water, groundwater, other aqueous samples, industrial wastes, soils, sludge, sediments, and other solid samples) in different application areas such as Environmental, Chemicals/Petrochemicals, Pharmaceutical, Semiconductor Manufacturing, Metallurgy, etc. However, there is no universal single technique, which will suit all of analytical needs. Your choice of technique/instrument should be based on the criteria summarized in the following table.
Descriptions |
AAS |
GFAAS | ICP-MS |
Detection Limit | Very good for some elements (in the sub-ppm range) |
Excellent for some elements (in the sub-ppb range) |
Excellent for most elements (typically, 1-10 ppt) |
Speed/Sample Throughput | Speed/Sample Throughput | Slow (3-4 mins per element) |
Fast (All elements in <1 min) |
Dynamic Range | 103 | 102 | 109 |
Interferences: Spectral Chemical (matrix) Physical (matrix) |
Very few Many Some |
Very few Many Very few |
few Many Some |
Multi-Element | No | No | Yes |
Elements Applicable to | 68+ | 50+ | 82 (all metals from lithium to uranium) |
Sample Volumes Required | Large (ml) | Very small (μl) | Very small (μl or ml) |
Semiquantitative Analysis | No | No | Yes |
Isotopic Analysis | No | No | Yes |
Ease to Use | Very easy | Moderately easy | Moderately easy |
Method Development | Easy | Difficult | Difficult |
Running Costs | Low | Medium | High |