and has gained general acceptance in many types of laboratories. Geochemical analysis labs were early adopters of ICP-MS technology because of its superior detection capabilities, particularly for the rare-earth elements (REEs). ICP-MS has many advantages over other elemental analysis techniques such as atomic absorption and optical emission spectrometry, including ICP Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), including:
• Detection limits for most elements equal to or better than those obtained by
Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (GFAAS).
• Higher throughput than GFAAS
• The ability to handle both simple and complex matrices with a minimum of matrix interferences due to the high-temperature of the ICP source
• Superior detection capability to ICP-AES with the same sample throughput
• The ability to obtain isotopic information