Atomic mass spectrometry

This Update follows on from last year's, but only covers a period of approx imately ten months as the production schedule has been brought forward by t wo months. The format remains the same with some minor changes in the secti on headings. Although an attempt is made to consider all relevant refereed papers, conference abstracts, reports, book chapters and patents for inclus ion, this review does not aim at being comprehensive in its coverage. The s election of papers is based on criteria applied to focus sharply on the mos t significant developments in instrumentation and methodology or improved u nderstanding of the fundamental phenomena involved in the MS process. Routi ne applications of atomic MS are not covered in this Update and readers are referred to the Updates on Industrial analysis: metals, chemicals and adva nced materials, Environmental analysis and Clinical and biological material s, foods and beverages. Trends noted in last year's Update have generally been maintained. Although the scope of this review includes the rapidly increasing use of MS for spe ciation analysis, reported developments should involve or be intended for s tudies of speciation in natural systems. However, some degree of judgement has still been required to set the limits. Attention has continued to be pa id mainly to sample preparation and introduction, in particular to meet the need for analysis of smaller samples. The sensitivity of many of the MS te chniques is exemplified by the growing use of AMS in biomedical and pharmac eutical studies, made possible through the use of such low levels of radioc arbon tracers that the doses fall below natural background levels and regul atory limits. The overall trend in published material on ICP-MS continues t o grow mainly in the applications and sample introduction areas, at the exp ense of fundamental studies. The exception to this is a considerable activi ty in the development and application of collision and reaction cells for r eduction or removal of polyatomic species. Many applications exploit the is otope capability of MS, identified in last year's review as a growth area f or ICP-MS.