EVALUATION OF VARIOUS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE NEBULIZATION DEVICES FORINDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

Behaviors of different commercially available sample introduction devi ces for ICP-AES, ie, pneumatic nebulizers (concentric, V-groove, micro -concentric),plus one ultrasonic nebulizer and two spray chambers (Stu rman-Masters, cyclonic) were studied and their figures of merit (LODs, RSDs, memory effects) were determined. Also the influences of added n itric acid and of the main matrix elements on the emission signals of trace elements were investigated. In most cases, these effects may be considered as negligible for usual routine ICP AES analysis of environ mental samples. Recovery studies were done for the main matrix element s (Ca, Na, K, Mg, P, Fe) and trace elements (Mn, Cu, Co, Cr, Zn, Pb, N i) for two reference plant samples. They have confirmed the validity o f the method for all nebulization systems studied.