Determination of 15 trace elements in seawater by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with off-line separation and concentration

Chang Mingzhu; Su Han; Qu Jianguo

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Chang Mingzhu，Su Han，Qu Jianguo. Determination of 15 trace elements in seawater by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with off-line separation and concentration[J]. Haiyang Xuebao，2025, 47(x)：1–12

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Determination of 15 trace elements in seawater by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with off-line separation and concentration

Chang Mingzhu^1
,,
Su Han¹,
Qu Jianguo^{1
,
,}

State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China

Received Date: 2025-01-13
Rev Recd Date: 2025-04-18

Available Online: 2025-05-15

Abstract

Abstract

A self-developed separation and enrichment device was employed to investigate the pretreatment method for isolating and concentrating 15 trace elements (Al, Sc, V, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Cd, Nd, Pb, Bi, Th, and U) from seawater using Toyopearl AF-Chelate 650M chelating resin. Key parameters including sample loading pH, washing solution composition and volume, and eluent type and volume were optimized. High-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) was used for accurate determination. The results demonstrated that when 8.92 mL of seawater sample was mixed with acetic acid-ammonium acetate buffer solution at a 1:1 ratio (loading pH = 5.25) and loaded onto the resin, matrix impurities could be effectively removed by washing with 8.0 mL of Milli-Q water. After matrix removal, the adsorbed trace elements were quantitatively recovered by elution with 2.25 mL of 0.8 mol/L HNO₃. Rh was added as an internal standard to the eluent prior to HR-ICP-MS analysis. Method blanks ranged from 0.27 pg (Cd) to 52.5 pg (Al), with method detection limits between 0.06 ng/L (Cd) and 1.67 ng/L (Zn). Excellent linearity (R² > 0.999) was achieved across the concentration range of 0.01−50.0 μg/L. The method was validated using certified reference materials GBW(E)080040 and CASS-6. For GBW(E)080040, measured concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb agreed well with certified values (relative error < 4.1%, RSD < 4.1%), with spike recoveries of 92.6%−107% for all 15 elements. Results for CASS-6 also showed good agreement with certified and reported values (RSD < 6.4%). This method features simple and rapid pretreatment, efficient matrix removal, low detection limits, high accuracy and good precision, making it suitable for simultaneous determination of trace elements in various water matrices including natural freshwater, drinking water, estuarine and marine waters.
- trace elements,
- chelating resin,
- solid phase extraction,
- high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry,
- seawater

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References

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