SciMed Applications
ICP-MS for testing drinking water quality
Why Monitoring Drinking Water Quality Matters
Ensuring the safety of drinking water is a critical public health priority. Contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, and industrial pollutants can pose serious health risks, even at very low concentrations.
Therefore, regular water quality testing is essential for protecting communities and complying with environmental regulations.
As a result, analytical laboratories and water authorities are under increasing pressure to detect and quantify trace-level contaminants with precision, speed, and reliability.
What is ICP-MS?
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a powerful analytical technique used to detect trace elements in water samples. It works by ionising the sample with plasma and then measuring the mass-to-charge ratio of the ions to identify and quantify metals and other elements.
Compared to traditional methods, ICP-MS offers higher sensitivity and a much lower detection limit — often in the parts-per-trillion (ppt) range. This makes it especially useful for detecting contaminants like lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium in drinking water.
The PlasmaQuant MS ICP-MS
The PlasmaQuant MS ICP-MS (close up)
Why Use ICP-MS for Drinking Water Analysis?
ICP-MS is widely regarded as the gold standard for drinking water analysis. Its speed, accuracy, and multi-element capabilities allow laboratories to screen for dozens of regulated and emerging contaminants in a single run.
In addition, the technique supports compliance with strict guidelines from regulatory bodies such as the EPA, WHO, and EU Drinking Water Directive. For this reason, many environmental labs, government agencies, and private water suppliers use ICP-MS to ensure water safety and regulatory compliance.
PlasmaQuant PQMS ICP-MS
Analytik Jena’s PlasmaQuant MS series provides ICP-MS instruments that surpass expectations in terms of accuracy, precision and speed, while meeting all the criteria for sample management, durability and regulatory compliance.
Robust plasma conditions suitable for drinking water analysis are achieved with only 7.5 L/min of coolant gas. The integrated collision reaction cell provides fast and effective removal of spectroscopic interferences using the optimum collision or reaction gas for the job. Allowing the lowest possible detection limits to be achieved for each element. The high pressure/low volume reaction zone also means switching between gas modes takes only seconds.
The PlasmaQuant range of ICP-MS instruments has the lowest running costs of any comparable ICP-MS system and the smallest physical footprint. The instruments can handle difficult sample matrices using built-in aerosol dilution, including the ability to directly analyse organic solvents.
Furthermore, the PlasmaQuant ICP-MS allows users to conduct ICP-MS experiments using half the argon consumption of a typical instrument. A typical inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrument uses approximately 15 to 20 L/min of gaseous argon between the plasma, nebuliser, auxiliary and purge flows. This means a typical cylinder of argon will only last for around 10 working hours.
From a financial perspective, using the PlasmaQuant ICP-MS means that labs that regularly use ICP-MS will save at least £5,000 a year, but this can be much higher in many cases. This is in addition to helping labs meet their sustainability goals by cutting ongoing utilities consumption.
What to Do Next?
Our specialists can provide detailed application notes, technical documentation, and tailored advice to help you choose the right solution. Contact us today to discuss your needs.
Page FAQ's
ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) is a highly sensitive technique used to detect trace elements in water. It is commonly used in drinking water analysis to identify heavy metals and other contaminants at very low concentrations.
ICP-MS can detect a wide range of contaminants including lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium, uranium, and other trace metals. It is also effective for detecting rare earth elements and some non-metals depending on the method used
ICP-MS offers unmatched sensitivity, allowing detection of contaminants at parts-per-trillion (ppt) levels. It also provides multi-element analysis in a single run, making it faster and more efficient than older techniques like AAS or ICP-OES for certain applications.
Yes. ICP-MS is widely used to comply with regulatory standards such as the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), U.S. EPA Method 200.8, and EU Drinking Water Directive. It is trusted by environmental labs and water authorities worldwide.
Choosing the right ICP-MS depends on your throughput needs, target analytes, and regulatory requirements. Our team can help recommend the best system based on your specific application. Contact us for expert advice.
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