Multielement analysis of Canadian wines by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and multivariate statistics.

Trace element fingerprints were deciphered for wines from Canada's two major wine-producing regions, the Okanagan Valley and the Niagara Peninsula, for the purpose of examining differences in wine element composition with region of origin and identifying elements important to determining provenance. Analysis by ICP-MS allowed simultaneous determination of 34 trace elements in wine (Li, Be, Mg, Al, P, Cl, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U) at low levels of detection, and patterns in trace element concentrations were deciphered by multivariate statistical analysis. The two regions were discriminated with 100% accuracy using 10 of these elements.

Effect of oxygen on laser-induced elemental fractionation in LA-ICP-MS analysis.

Elemental fractionation poses serious difficulties in obtaining accurate concentration and isotope ratio data when using laser ablation sampling. One of the factors that control the extent of laser-induced elemental fractionation is the composition of sample carrier gas in the sample cell. This study demonstrates that the presence of small amounts of oxygen in the He carrier gas has a significant effect on elemental fractionation during the ablation of silicate (NIST 612 glass and zircon 91500) and sulphide (NiS fire assay) samples.

Acid digestion of geological and environmental samples using open-vessel focused microwave digestion.

The application of open vessel focused microwave acid digestion is described for the preparation of geological and environmental samples for analysis using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The method is compared to conventional closed-vessel high pressure methods which are limited in the use of HF to break down silicates. Open-vessel acid digestion more conveniently enables the use of HF to remove Si from geological and plant samples as volatile SiF4, as well as evaporation-to-dryness and sequential acid addition during the procedure.