Multielement determination of major-to-ultratrace elements in vegetable samples by ICP-MS and ICP-AES after acid digestion

A multielement determination of major-to-ultratrace elements in vegetable s amples was carried out by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP -MS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Spinach samples (0.5 g) were digested with nitric acid and hydrofluoric ac id in a Teflon beaker on a hot plate. The decomposed samples were dissolved in a 1 M (= mol dm(-3)) HNO3 solution containing internal standard element s (Ge, In, and Re, 10 ppb each), and were subjected to multielement analyse s by ICP-AES and ICP-MS. As a result, about 40 elements were successfully d etermined over a wide concentration range from % to ppb level. Spinach samp les grown in different production areas were also analyzed in order to unde rstand the influences of the environmental conditions on growth. Among the major and minor elements, the values of the coefficient of variance (CV) fo r B, Mg, P, and K were <20%, and those for Ca, Na, Al, and Mn were higher t han 50%. On the other hand, the values of CV for trace and ultratrace eleme nts were significantly high. Furthermore, the present analytical method was also applied to the determination of major-to-ultratrace elements in vario us Vegetable samples (23 species in 11 families); the similarities and diff erences of the elemental distributions in Vegetables were found in the expe rimental results.