Compensation of inorganic acid interferences in ICP-OES and ICP-MS using a Flow Blurring® multinebulizer

Abstract

A new and easy method has been proposed for the compensation of inorganic acid matrix effects in ICP-OES and ICP-MS. The method consists of an on-line standard addition calibration using a Flow Blurring® multinebulizer (FBMN-based system). Experimental conditions of the FBMN-based system are optimized for both ICP-OES and ICP-MS. Under optimized conditions recovery values obtained in the analysis of synthetic acid samples were close to 100% for HNO₃ and HCl (with acid concentrations of up to 15% (w/w)) and H₂SO₄ (up to 10% (w/w) for both plasma-based spectrochemical techniques. The applicability of the proposed method has been evaluated analyzing two whole milk powders, a certified reference material and a commercial product, showing excellent recovery values. Compared with other calibration strategies and experimental setups used, the on-line standard addition calibration using the FBMN-based system is faster, easier to handle and significantly reduces reagent and sample consumption.