The Choice of Conditions for the Determination of Vanadium, Chromium and Arsenic Concentration in Waters by ICP-MS Using Collision Mode

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a popular method for the analysis of waters with various matrices and salinity. One of the difficulties of routine measurements by ICP-MS is spectral interferences conditioned by polyatomic ion formation in the plasma. The detection of the background concentration of such elements as vanadium, chromium and arsenic in natural waters by ICP-MS is complicated because of the polyatomic interferences, having the same mass-to-charge ratio. Thus, the purpose of this article is to determine the optimal rate of helium flow for the effective correction of polyatomic interferences of vanadium, chromium and arsenic and the reduction of their detection limits in Cl-rich waters. This research has been carried out using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer NexION 300D with a universal cell technology (UCT) (PerkinElmer, USA) and three model solutions. For the detection of vanadium, chromium and arsenic content in chloride matrix water by ICP-MS, a collision mode is preferable for polyatomic interference correction. The optimal helium flow rate for this purpose is 2.5 ml/min. Under these conditions, the detection limit of vanadium, chromium and arsenic decreases by order of two.