8. Applications

8.1 Analysis of total element content

Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) is a technique whose performance in terms of detection limits is clearly inferior to that obtained by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Yet this technique is still used in leading laboratories worldwide. Its robustness, multi-elemental nature and high linearity of its measurement range mean that it covers a very broad field of applications.

With detection limits in the μg/L range, the majority of applications are for analysis of total element content. A wide variety of elements can be detected, as shown in table 4 . This is a non-exhaustive list of recent applications where...