Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Analytical Spectrometry. A Study of Some Interelement Effects

Investigations of the extent to which certain interelement or Interference effects occur in an inductively-coupled plasma are reported. Under conditions normally employed for analytical purposes, it Is shown that: a) two solute vaporization interferences often observed in flames are eliminated or reduced to negligible proportions in the plasma; b) increasing concentrations of an easily ionizable element (Na) up to concentrations of 6900 μg/ml exerted an unusually low influence on the observed emission intensities of three selected elements (Ca, Cr, and Cd) of widely differing degrees of ionization. The high degree of freedom from interelement effects of this analytical technique is further documented by the observation that a variety of matrices did not affect the emission intensity of Mo to a significant extent. © 1975, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.