The determination of Cu is complicated because of
polyatomic ion interferences from Na at mass 63 ([sup.40]Ar[sup.23]Na) as well as from Ca and S at mass 65 ([sup.48]Ca[sup.16]OH, [sup.48]Ca[sup.17]O, [sup.33]S[sup.16]O[sup.16]O, [sup.32]S[sup.16]O[sup.17]O, [sup.32]S[sup.33]S) where Na, Ca, and S are abundant in biological fluids.
Careful adjustment of nebulizer gas flow and other instrument operating parameters can also reduce the formation of
polyatomic ions. Normally, the mass of the most abundant isotope of an element would be chosen in its analysis but in the case of selenium this mass, 80Se, has the same mass charge ration, (40Ar40Ar)-, as that of a polyatomic specie known to be formed from the ICP/MS carrier gas argon in the plasma torch.
Designed for use as background material by practitioners, this covers a range of topics from over 40 years of research, including current experimental methods for ion production and separation as well as those designed to reveal qualitative and quantitative aspect of gas-phased ions, theory and methods, tools for identifying the structure of gas-phase ions, what and what not to expect from gas-phase ions, ions containing C and
polyatomic ions containing one to three C atoms, ion structures, ions containing only carbon atoms, and those containing one, two or three carbon atoms.
