ICP – MS: A versatile tool for Trace Element studies

Trace elements play a crucial role in deciding the properties and behaviour of materials of everyday use such as foods and beverages, pharmaceuticals, clinical and forensic specimens and environmental samples. Trace elements analysis becomes essential for evaluation of soils for different crops and understanding the nutritional benefits of edible products.

早期相关文章中提供了对常用技术的简要介绍Which Technique should I use for trace metal analysis和Which Elemental analysis technique is right for me. ICP – MS has earned a top position and has been acclaimed as a reliable and highly accurate option. The reasons for this have already been covered in the referenced articles.

The scope of ICP – MS in two major application areas, namely, pharmaceuticals and foods is briefly outlined below:

制药

ICP – MS is used extensively in the pharmaceuticals industry to quantitate metallic impurities in active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). The information obtained from such experiments can aid in synthesis and purification decisions for setting impurity specifications.
The classical determination of total elemental concentration may no longer be required to evaluate the risk of metallic residuals as the toxicity of metal varies with the oxidation states. Analysis of oxidation states is achieved by combination of HPLC and ICP-MS.

Food & Beverages

The widespread role of metal ions in health range from the requirement for intake of essential trace elements to toxicity associated with metal overload. Numerous studies have quantified levels of toxic metal ions in common foodstuffs. Despite regulatory controls, numerous sources of metal ingestion have been recently reported including contaminated drinking water, seafood, breast milk, milk products, meat products, and beverages. ICP – MS has the capability to provide required detection levels of trace materials in such products. In addition to the endogenous metal ion content of foodstuffs, numerous steps during processing and packaging may add to the metal ion load. Many of the toxic effects associated with metals are still under investigation, especially for low concentrations and for lifelong exposure.

ICP-MS提供的优势正在扩大其在不同应用领域的应用程序范围。正如已经提到的那样，该技术的可靠性和准确性已毫无疑问，但是在样本制备和处理中应格外小心，以避免交叉污染，这可能是错误的主要来源，尤其是对于超痕量确定。