ICP/MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry) is a robust, very sensitive analytical method in inorganic elemental analysis. It is used, among other things, for the trace analysis of heavy metals such as mercury, lead or cadmium. In ICP/MS, ionised argon is first induced by a high-frequency current and the sample is heated to 5000-10000°C. The atoms are then ionised and the ionisation process continues. This ionises the atoms and creates a plasma. Subsequently, the ions generated in the plasma are accelerated towards the analyser of the mass spectrometer. There, the individual elements and their isotopes are measured. With ICP/MS, detection limits in the range of ng/l or sub ng/l are achieved for most elements of the periodic table. Furthermore, the method is characterised by an extremely high linear range over up to nine orders of magnitude (g/l - pg/l) in the quantitative determination.  

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