Determination of copper, cadmium and lead in sediment samples by slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Ultrasonic slurry sampling–ETV–ID–ICP-MS was applied to the determination of Cu, Cd and Pb in several sediment samples. The influence of instrument operating conditions, slurry preparation, and non-spectroscopic and spectroscopic interferences on the ion signals and accuracy and precision of isotope ratio determination was investigated. The isotope ratios of each element were calculated from the peak areas of each injection peak. The precision of isotope ratio determination was better than 5%. The method was applied to the determination of Cu, Cd and Pb in a harbour sediment reference material (PACS-1) and in a sediment sample collected from the Taiwan Straits. The accuracy was better than 6% and the precision was better than 12%. The concentrations of Cu, Cd and Pb determined in the sediment samples by the ID method were compared with the results of external calibration and standard additions methods.