LEAD AND STRONTIUM ISOTOPIC RATIO METHOD DEVELOPMENT USING INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY

Abstract

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method was developed to measure lead and strontium isotopic ratio from tailings samples, but the method can be extended to any solid or liquid samples. Careful optimization of the instrument parameters and method settings (time settings, quadrupole parameters) can overcome some of the limitations of the quadruple mass analyzer and can provide useful isotopic ratio data for environment applications. A bracketing calibration method was employed, using certified reference materials, to ensure that the results are not affected by mass bias or signal shift during measurements.

Keywords

• ICP-MS, isotopic ratio, lead, strontium, mass spectrometry, quadrupole, tailings