This Atomic Spectrometry Update is the latest in an annual series appe
aring under the title 'Industrial Analysis'. The structure of the revi
ew is broadly the same as in previous years. Direct analysis of solid
samples continues to be a prime objective for industrial atomic spectr
ometry and laser sampling techniques (for both MS and AES) are becomin
g increasingly common, especially in the field of metals analysis. Mor
e traditional approaches using glow discharge sources are, however, st
ill undergoing development and are frequently applied to the determina
tion of elemental depth profiles. A novel sampling system has even bee
n described which permits elemental mapping over many tens of square c
entimeters of a sample surface at one: time using GD-AES. The developm
ent of rf GD sources is beginning to extend the applications of GD-MS
and GD-AES to non-conductive Samples and may be particularly useful in
the held of advanced materials. However, although seldom reflected in
the volume of published literature, XRF still often remains the metho
d of choice within industry for direct analysis of solid samples. The
capabilities of the technique have recently been extended to include s
patially resolved analysis, through the development of instruments wit
h microbeam capabilities and of software packages that are capable of
carrying out the analysis of small, irregularly shaped particles, and
this is now beginning to be exploited. TXRF continues to become more e
stablished within the semiconductor industry for the determination of
contaminants on wafer and device surfaces and the applications of the
technique have recently been extended to include the analysis of light
elements (e.g., Al, C, F, Mg, N, Na and O). It has been estimated tha
t there are now over 100 TXRF instruments in use within the semiconduc
tor industry, and the possibility of establishing an industry wide ISO
standard method based around the technique has been discussed at a re
cent conference. XRF is also frequently the method of choice for many
process control applications. In the field of catalyst analysis, howev
er, traditional solid sampling techniques such as SIMS, XPS and electr
on microscopy (usually in combination with XRD) continue to dominate.
Rapid multi-element techniques, such as ICP-MS, are becoming more wide
ly available and the capabilities are being exploited for a diverse ra
nge of 'fingerprinting' applications (precious metal identification, o
il-source rock correlations, origin of illicit drugs, archaeological a
rtefact correlations, etc.). The range of elements covered by ICP-MS i
s being extended to include 'difficult' elements (i.e., those which su
ffer from molecular ion interferences) through the use of novel sample
introduction techniques and/or cool plasmas. Reports on the applicati
on of high resolution ICP-MS are starting to appear in the literature
and it is clear that this technique offers very high potential, partic
ularly for applications in the nuclear industry and for the analysis o
f advanced materials. At the moment, however, the number of such repor
ts is relatively small, due to the limited availability and high cost
of the instrumentation. In cases where multi-element capability is not
required, it is often difficult to justify expensive instrumentation
such as that described above, and so many workers are developing innov
ative approaches to improve sensitivity and eliminate interferences wi
th cheaper alternatives such as FAAS and ETAAS., G large proportion of
such work has to some extent been:stimulated by the commercial availa
bility of robust and automated sample preparation and sample introduct
ion equipment (ultrasonic nebulizers, thermosprays, direct injection n
ebulizers, on-line matrix separation/preconcentration systems, hydride
generation/desolvation systems, etc). Direct injection nebulization (
DIN) appears to offer particular advantages for ICP-AES and ICP-MS ana
lysis, since it allows direct analysis of samples containing volatile
analytes (e.g., As, Hg and P in organic feedstocks), and when combined
with how injection, can allow extremely rapid analysis (up to 240 sam
ples per hour). Every year sees a growing awareness regarding the impa
ct of industrial products and processes on the environment and this is
the driving force for much of the research in the field of atomic spe
ctrometry at the current time. Methods for determination of total elem
ent concentrations are fairly well established, although developments
in ICP-AES (e.g., axially viewed plasma, ultrasonic nebulization) have
meant that this technique may be starting to undergo something of a r
enaissance, as it can now be used for applications which, a few years
ago, would have required the use of a more sensitive technique such as
ICP-MS or ETAAS. The extension of the UV wavelength range of some new
er ICP-AES instruments to allow determination of chlorine down to ppm
levels also increases the attractiveness of the technique for environm
ental applications. In many cases, however, determination of total ele
ment concentrations in environmental samples is not sufficient, since
it is well known that toxicity can vary enormously depending on the ch
emical form of the element. Methods for element speciation are much le
ss well developed than those for total element concentrations and so t
he former is a very active field of research at the present time. Most
of the work reported is concerned with development of methods for ext
racting, and if necessary derivatizing, chemical species prior to meas
urement using a chromatographic system coupled with an atomic spectrom
etric detector. In view of the complexity of these problems, it seems
likely that this will remain an active area of research for many years
to come.