Reproducibility of laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) measurements in mussel shells and comparison with micro-drill sampling and solution ICP-MS

LA-ICP-MS and micro-drill solution ICP-MS are not sensitive enough for the determination of ultra-trace elements in Lake Balaton's mussel shells. We estimated the amount of shell material necessary to determine Ni, Pb, Cr and Cu by micro-drilling ICP-MS (for a concentration that equals 3 times their limit of detection) at, respectively, 0.04, 0.82, 2.7 and 0.4 mg, while the amount sampled by micro-drilling is about 0.06 mg.