Abstract

This Update follows on from last year's, but only covers a period of approximately ten months as the production schedule has been brought forward by two months. The format remains the same with some minor changes in the section headings. Although an attempt is made to consider all relevant refereed papers, conference abstracts, reports, book chapters and patents for inclusion, this review does not aim at being comprehensive in its coverage. The selection of papers is based on criteria applied to focus sharply on the most significant developments in instrumentation and methodology or improved understanding of the fundamental phenomena involved in the MS process. Routine applications of atomic MS are not covered in this Update and readers are referred to the Updates on Industrial analysis: metals, chemicals and advanced materials, Environmental analysis and Clinical and biological materials, foods and beverages.

Trends noted in last year's Update have generally been maintained. Although the scope of this review includes the rapidly increasing use of MS for speciation analysis, reported developments should involve or be intended for studies of speciation in natural systems. However, some degree of judgement has still been required to set the limits. Attention has continued to be paid mainly to sample preparation and introduction, in particular to meet the need for analysis of smaller samples. The sensitivity of many of the MS techniques is exemplified by the growing use of AMS in biomedical and pharmaceutical studies, made possible through the use of such low levels of radiocarbon tracers that the doses fall below natural background levels and regulatory limits. The overall trend in published material on ICP-MS continues to grow mainly in the applications and sample introduction areas, at the expense of fundamental studies. The exception to this is a considerable activity in the development and application of collision and reaction cells for reduction or removal of polyatomic species. Many applications exploit the isotope capability of MS, identified in last year's review as a growth area for ICP-MS.