NY TEKNIK FOR BESTÄMNING AV SPÅRMETALLER I BRACK- OCH HAVSVATTEN / A new technique for the determination of trace metals in brackish and sea water
Trace metal concentrations in brackish and sea water can be determined by ICP-SMS (inductively coupled plasma sector mass spectrometry) with no pretreatment other than acidification and dilution. This is possible because of i) very low instrumental detection limits, and ii) the elimination of most of the spectral interferences caused by the salts. These interferences make the direct determination of several trace elements impossible in
conventional ICP-MS (ICP-QMS). Like the latter, ICP-SMS is a multi-element technique, i e many elements can be determined simultaneously. Samples of brackish water from the Kalix River estuary were analyzed for aluminium, barium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead, uranium, vanadium, and zinc. The result illustrates the behaviour of the metals in the salt gradient formed through stratification between the outflowing river water and the underlying brackish water in the estuary.