Coastal oceans house a wealth of marine life and serve as the primary source of global seafood production. However, with the increasing industrialization of both land and sea, coupled with rising global populations, there is growing concern over the contamination of coastal seawater by metals and metalloids. This poses a threat to the biological communities that inhabit these waters and affects human communities that rely on local seafood as a source of sustenance. Therefore, it is important to monitor and assess the presence of potentially toxic heavy metals and metalloids.

Due to its high total dissolved solids (TDS) content, seawater is among the most challenging sample matrices to analyze. As a powerful technology for trace-elemental analysis, ICP-MS has several advantages (multi-element analysis capability, high sensitivity, low detection limits, wide linear dynamic range, and easy automation), however, as with all analytical techniques, it is subject to interferences.

This work presents a method for the direct analysis of trace elements in coastal seawater using the NexION^® 2200 ICP-MS, the ideal solution for this application thanks to a combination of proprietary technologies that optimize interference removal and sensitivity.