Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Quantification of Heavy Metals and Other Inorganic Contaminants on the Productivity of Microalgae
Published on: July 10, 2015
Advancing Ca isotopic analysis: Direct measurement of 44Ca/40Ca isotopic composition by MC-MICAP-MS with nitrogen
Anika Retzmann1, Michael E Wieser1
1University of Calgary - Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Background:
In conventional multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS), major isobaric interference from 40Ar+ ions generated in the plasma prevents the direct measurement of 40Ca+ ions. To address this limitation, we investigated the performance of a microwave inductively coupled atmospheric-pressure plasma (MICAP) ion source, operating with N2 as plasma gas, recently integrated with multi-collector mass spectrometry (MC-MICAP-MS), for the measurement of 44Ca/40Ca and 44Ca/42Ca isotope abundance ratios.
Results:
The use of a N2 plasma effectively eliminates Ar-related interferences, enabling direct measurement of 44Ca/40Ca and 44Ca/42Ca isotopic composition under low-resolution conditions with an intermediate precision of ≤0.10 ‰ (2 SD). The method exhibits high tolerance to K+ interference (Ca/K ratio ≥30), MgO+ interferences (Ca/Mg ratio ≥20), and Sr++ interferences (Ca/Sr ratio ≥350), which makes MC-MICAP-MS a more robust approach for the direct measurement of 44Ca/40Ca isotopic composition than other plasma-based methods such as cold plasma MC-ICP-MS and CRC-MC-ICP-MS. The accuracy was validated by comparison with data from established techniques obtained for four biological reference materials (bone, hair, and liver), showing consistent results. For the bovine liver reference material NIST SRM 1577c, we propose a δ44Ca/40CaSRM915a value of 0.50 ‰ ± 0.09 ‰ (U, k = 2) and a δ44Ca/42CaSRM915a value of 0.21 ‰ ± 0.07 ‰ (U, k = 2).
Significance:
The MC-MICAP-MS approach offers a simple, robust, and reliable alternative for high-precision Ca isotope abundance ratio measurements that has the potential to significantly advance the applications of stable Ca isotope research in various fields.
More Related Videos
04:48Setup of Capillary Electrophoresis-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry CE-ICP-MS for Quantification of Iron Redox Species FeII, FeIII
Published on: May 4, 2020
11:18A Practical Guide on Coupling a Scanning Mobility Sizer and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer SMPS-ICPMS
Published on: July 11, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP–MS): Overview
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Principle
The ions and electrons produced interact with the fluctuating magnetic field created by a water-cooled...
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Lab
Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS): Interferences
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Instrumentation
There are three main types of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) instruments: sequential, simultaneous multichannel, and Fourier transform instruments, with the latter being less commonly used....
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Instrumentation
The atomizer used in AAS can be either a flame atomizer or an...