Determination of Fe, Cu, Ni, and Zn in seawater by ID-ICP-MS after preconcentration using a syringe-driven chelating column

A hybrid method was suggested for preconcentration of trace metals and removal of matrix elements in seawater samples. In this method, seawater samples were loaded off-line into the syringe-driven chelating columns (SDCCs), which were then connected to a valve-switching system for on-line elution and on-line determination of Fe, Cu, Ni, and Zn by ID-ICP-MS. Optimizations of operating conditions were carried out for sample loading flow rate and pH. The removal of matrix elements was not carried out, because the concentrations of Mg, Ca, Na, and K were sufficiently low when 5 mL or less of the seawater sample was used for analysis. The usefulness of the present method was confirmed by analysis of NASS-5. Detection limits for Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn were 0.03, 0.012, 0.018, and 0.009 ng mL(-1), respectively.