SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF VOLATILE METAL (PB, NO, SN, IN, GA) ANDNONMETAL SPECIES (SE, P, AS) IN DIFFERENT ATMOSPHERES BY CRYOFOCUSINGAND DETECTION BY ICPMS

A sensitive method for multielemental speciation analysis of volatile metal and metalloid compounds in air has been developed. The analytes are sampled simultaneously in the field by cryofocusing on a small gla ss wool-packed column at -175 degrees C, Detection is performed in the laboratory by low-temperature GC hyphenated with ICPMS. Oxygen additi on in the carrier gas was used to reduce interferences originating fro m the presence of volatile carbon-containing species in the samples. P lasma stability during analysis was monitored continuously by internal standardization (Xe). This system provides routine absolute detection limits of 0.06-0.07 pg (as Pb) for tetraalkyllead species (Me4Pb, Et4 Pb), 0.2 pg (as Sn) for tetraalkyltin species (Me4Sn, Et4Sn), 0.8 pg ( as Hg) for mercury species (Hg-0, Me2Hg, Et2Hg), and 2.5 pg (as Se) fo r selenium species (Me2Se), This instrumentation makes it possible to collect small air sample volumes and has been successfully applied to the determination of volatile metal and metalloid species in the atmos phere in urban and rural locations, Qualitative application in the sem iconductor industry is also reported with regard to the detection of a rsenic (ASH(3), tert-butylarsine), phosphorus (PH3, tert-butylphosphin e), alkylindium, and gallium species.