Determination of bromide, bromate and other anions with ion chromatography and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer as element-specific detector

An implementation of the Dionex IonPac AS12A analytical column with an element-specific ICP-MS detection is described for the simultaneous determination of halogen and oxyhalogen anions, sulfate, phosphate, selenite, selenate and arsenate. The chromatographic separation was achieved in less than 4 min with an aqueous 11 mM (NH4)2CO3 (pH 11.2, adjusted with aqueous ammonia) as eluent. Special emphasis was given to optimize the ICP-MS detection conditions for the reliable detection (RSD<5%) of bromate and bromide at a bromine concentration level of 1.0 microg l(-1) with 50 microl sample injection volume. In order to achieve the highest detector response for bromine species an ultrasonic nebulizer equipped with a membrane desolvator had to be employed. The detection limits (S/N=3, sample injection volume 50 microl) obtained with the IC-ICP-MS after the optimization were 0.67 microg l(-1) for BrO3-, 0.47 microg l(-1) for Br-, 69 microg l(-1) for ClO2-, 4 microg l(-1) for Cl-, 47 microg l(-1) for ClO3-, 13 microg l(-1) for SO4(2-), 36 microg l(-1) for PO4(3-), 0.4 microg l(-1) for SeO3(2-), 0.3 microg l(-1) for SeO4(2-), and 0.4 microg l(-1) for AsO4(3-).