Analytical data are presented for Al, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, and Zn since all of these elements are of biological importance and some of them represent the most difficult elements to determine because of their low concentrations in biological fluids. The results of the studies on whole blood and serum suggest that the inductively coupled plasma system is capable of directly determining trace elements at the mu g/ml level in biological fluids with more » essentially no sample preparation. The evaluation is based on the ability of this excitation source to accurately determine trace and ultratrace concentrations of metallic elements in the presence of high concentrations of matrix materials which often are of variable composition. The applicability of an inductively coupled plasma-optical eniission spectroscopic system to practical analytical problems is demonstrated using metallurgical samples (steels) and biological samples (whole blood and serum) as typical examples. The relative standard deviation of the determination of the major elements ranged from 0.5 to 2%, and of the minor and trace elements from 0.5 to 8%. The analytical results showed good agreement. The accuracy of the determination was assessed by: (a) comparing more » our results with those obtained by neutron activation and x-ray fluorescence and (b) by analyzing several geological reference samples (US Geological Survey and Canadian Certified Reference Materials). A polychromator and a programmable scanning monochromator interfaced to the same plasma excitation source provided the spectroscopic data. The reference solutions employed for calibrating the spectrometers contained only the HF-aqua regia-HS/sub 3/BO/sub 3/ matrix. The final solution is transformed into an aerosol via ultrasonic nebulization. The sample was dissolved in a mixture of aqua regia and HF in a sealed Teflon bomb and boric acid is added after dissolution to complex the excess HF. « lessĪ study on the ICP-AES determination of 42 major and trace elements in meteorites was described. In this review the formation and the properties of these plasmas are summarized and the present capabilities of ICP-AES with reference to such figures of merit as powers of detection, simultaneous multielement capability, applicability to the analysis of microliter or microgram samples, interelement effects, applicability to the direct excitation of liquids, solids, and gases, cost, accuracy, precision and dynamic range are reviewed. In principle, all of these elements can be more » detected and determined simultaneously or sequentially under a single set of operating conditions. With state of the art systems, it is now possible to determine all of the metals, metalloids, noble gases, and hydrogen at the major, minor, trace, and ultratrace level in a viable practical manner. During the elapsed decade, continuing studies in a relatively small number of laboratories have led to striking advances in the scope of application of this analytical concept. The first papers describing the potential advantages of using inductively coupled plasmas as vaporization-atomization-excitation sources for the atomic emission determination of the elements appeared in the literature approximately ten years ago.

Argon atomic emission spectrum