TRACE-METAL AND METALLOID SPECIES DETERMINATION - EVOLUTION AND TRENDS

Metal species determination has seen considerable evolution during the last decade. The issues addressed by total metal determinations using standard spectrochemical analyses deliver only a minimal amount of in formation required to appropriately inform decision making. In molecul ar analyses, coupled instrumentation systems allow us to obtain molecu lar information for assisting in identifying the compounds of interest . Metal species determinations will provide additional information bey ond that available from total metal determinations. Many total metal d eterminations will be replaced with elemental speciation determination s when species-selective risk/benefit assessment is a priority. This p aper discusses the differences between traditional inorganic metals an alysis and metal species determinations and outlines new trends. (C) 1 998 Elsevier Science B.V.