Introducing the New Agilent 7700 Series ICP-MS; Improved Performance for Speciated Analysis

Significance of the Topic

Speciated analysis by ICP-MS is essential for accurate quantification of toxic metal forms and emerging analytes in environmental, food, clinical and industrial matrices. Recent advances in collision and reaction cell technology and fully integrated chromatography software enhance sensitivity, selectivity and routine robustness for both liquid and gas chromatography hyphenated methods.

Objectives and Study Overview

This work presents the design improvements of the third generation ICP-MS instrument and evaluates its performance for a range of speciation applications. Key aims include enhancing interference removal for traditionally difficult elements and demonstrating routine LC-ICP-MS and GC-ICP-MS workflows for organometallic and inorganic species.

Methodology and Used Instrumentation

This study employed high performance liquid chromatography coupled to ICP-MS for inorganic and organometallic speciation, and gas chromatography coupled to ICP-MS for volatile compounds. The following instrumentation was integrated:

• Agilent 7700 Series ICP-MS with third generation octopole collision cell technology in helium mode
• Agilent 1200 series HPLC system for gradient separations of anionic and neutral species
• Agilent 7890 gas chromatograph with fully heated transfer line for volatile analytes
• MassHunter workstation chromatography software for sequencing, real-time review and compound independent calibration

Main Results and Discussion

• The new octopole reaction system efficiently removes common polyatomic interferences in helium mode, allowing simultaneous measurement of silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and selenium with low picogram per liter detection limits
• Helium mode operation eliminates the need for complex reaction gas switching and achieves limits of detection below 5 parts per trillion for selenium mass 78
• Frequency matching RF generator maintains stable plasma under rapid gradient elution of organic solvents, enabling unattended 20 injection sequences over 14 hours with excellent retention time and peak area reproducibility
• LC-ICP-MS speciation examples include organotin compounds, arsenic species in drinking water and seafood, chromium species in environmental samples, and phosphorus-containing degradation products of chemical warfare agents
• GC-ICP-MS workflows demonstrated low level detection of organotin species down to 20 nanograms per liter, polybrominated diphenyl ethers including BDE-209, low level pesticide residues containing sulfur and halogen elements, sulfur compounds in fuels, siloxanes in biogas and brominated flame retardants in consumer goods

Benefits and Practical Applications

The improved interference removal and integrated software deliver high throughput and reliability for routine QAQC, environmental monitoring, food safety and petrochemical analysis. Compound independent calibration reduces uncertainty related to compound specific standards, and fully integrated sequencing simplifies laboratory workflow.

Future Trends and Potential Applications

• Expansion of hyphenated methods for real time process monitoring in pharmaceutical and petrochemical production
• Development of novel collision cell chemistries for further interference reduction in complex matrices
• Integration with automation and in situ sample preparation for field and point of care testing
• Application to biomonitoring of emergent contaminants including engineered nanoparticles and novel organometallic species

Conclusion

The new ICP-MS platform demonstrates marked improvements in interference suppression, matrix tolerance and chromatographic compatibility, enabling sensitive and reproducible speciation analysis for a broad range of challenging target analytes. Its robust design and fully integrated software support routine application across environmental, food safety, clinical and industrial laboratories.

Reference

Agilent Technologies Publication 5989-6160EN Handbook of Hyphenated ICP-MS Applications First Edition Agilent Technologies