Agilent ICP-MS Journal - Agilent Technologies

Agilent ICP-MS Journal 

January 2004 – Issue 18 

Inside this Issue 

2/3 Detecting "The New PCBs" using GC-ICP-MS - Challenges 

of PBDE Analysis 

4 User Profile: ExperTox Inc - Toxicology Laboratory, USA 

5 Agilent On-line Resources and Improved ICP-MS User Forum 

6 Phosphorus in Phosphorylated Deoxyribonucleotides using 

LC-ICP-MS 

7 New Team Setup in the Americas 

8 Free Series of e-Seminars, Up & Coming Events, Welcome to 

New ICP-MS Users, New Literature

Detecting "New 

PCBs" using GC-ICP- 

MS - Challenges of 

PBDE Analysis 

Steve Wilbur and Emmett Soffey 

Agilent Technologies, Bellevue, WA, USA 

Introduction 

Brominated flame retardants and 

especially polybrominated diphenyl 

ethers (PBDEs) are under scrutiny 

around the world. PBDEs are widely 

used as flame retardants in plastics 

and are found in the plastics used 

in computers, construction materials, 

furniture and textiles. Structurally, 

they resemble PCBs, dioxins and 

furans, with the chlorines substituted 

by bromine. It is this similarity in 

structure coupled with recent data 

showing significant concentrations 

in the environment and human and 

animal tissues that has raised 

concern. A recent study in Sweden 

testing archived human breast milk 

showed levels 55 times higher in 

1997 than in 1972, with the average 

concentrations doubling every 5 

years. Further studies indicate that 

the US is far more contaminated 

than Sweden. For example, sewage 

sludge in the US contains 10-100 

times more PBDE than European 

sludge. While the global demand for 

PBDEs totaled 150 million pounds 

(68 million kg) in 1997, half of that 

was used by North American 

industries. Every day, the typical 

consumer comes in contact with 

dozens, if not hundreds of consumer 

goods that contain PBDEs. Since 

PBDEs are not covalently bound to 

the plastics into which they are 

incorporated, they are easily released 

into the environment. This can occur 

through incineration, leaching of 

materials in landfills, dust given off 

by degrading textiles and foam 

materials or even simple evaporation. 

Products containing these compounds 

typically contain from 5 to 20% of 

the product weight as PBDE. 

Because PBDEs are poorly soluble 

in water, but highly fat soluble, they 

are readily bioaccumulated in fatty 

tissues of animals and humans. Recent 

research on laboratory animals has 

shown that low level exposure to 

PBDEs can cause permanent 

neurological and developmental 

damage. Those most at risk are 

pregnant women, developing fetuses 

and young children. Already levels of 

PBDEs found in some mothers and 

fetuses are approaching levels known 

to impair learning and development 

in mice [1]. 

Regulation 

As early as the mid 1980s to early 

1990s bans on the use of some PBDEs 

were proposed in Germany, Sweden 

and the Netherlands. In 1993, using 

its Dioxin Ordinance, Germany 

officially restricted the use of PBDEs 

because of the possibility of releasing 

dioxins when incinerated. In February 

2003, the EU announced a ban on 

two common PBDEs, Penta and 

Octa, in all products from August 

2004. The EU is also considering a 

ban on the use of Deca PBDE in 

electronics products by July 2006. 

Despite the much higher levels of 

PBDEs in North America, the US 

government has not imposed any 

regulations on their manufacture or 

use. Recently the State of California 

introduced legislation which would 

ban the use of several types of PBDEs 

by 2008. However, the California bill 

exempts the deca congener from 

the ban which is the most widely 

used type in electronic products. 

Several other states are considering 

similar legislation. Several Japanese 

electronic companies will be phasing 

PBDEs from their products and 

other countries and individual 

manufacturers are taking steps to 

eliminate their use of PBDEs. 

Structure 

The general structure of the PBDEs 

is given in Figure 1. There are ten 

possible sites for bromination; five 

on each ring. Similar to PCBs and 

dioxins, there are a large number of 

structural congeners depending on 

the number and location of bromine 

substitutions. In the case of PBDEs, 

there are 209 possible congeners, with 

the individual congeners named 1 

through 209. The decabromo congener 

is PBDE-209. 

Figure 1. General chemical structure of a 

polybrominated diphenyl ether 

Analytical Challenges 

Typically, PBDEs are analyzed and 

detected like PCBs or Dioxins using 

gas chromatography coupled to a 

halogen specific detector such as 

electron capture or to a mass 

spectrometer. However, unlike PCBs, 

PBDEs are much more difficult to 

separate and detect using 

chromatography. This is due to 

several differences between PCBs 

and PBDEs. PBDEs are high molecular 

weight, high boiling-point compounds 

which require high temperatures to 

elute from the GC column. However, 

unlike PCBs, which are very stable 

biphenyl compounds, the diphenyl 

ether structure makes PBDEs much 

more sensitive to degradation under 

high temperature GC conditions. In 

addition, the large number of bromines 

in the higher congeners places the 

molecular weight outside the range 

of some mass spectrometers. 

Furthermore, since bromine elicits 

a much lower response by electron 

capture than chlorine, the possibility 

of interferences from chlorinated 

compounds in some samples can be 

troublesome. Much work is ongoing 

to determine the optimum GC 

column dimensions and phase for 

PBDE analysis. At present, the 

best inertness for the sensitive 209 

congener has been shown to be a 

short, thin film 5 meter Agilent 

DB-5 MS column [2]. Other columns 

tested show significant loss of the 

209 congener. However, this column 

is incapable of completely resolving 

all 209 congeners. Intensive research 

is ongoing at Agilent to determine 

the optimum chromatographic 

conditions for this analysis. In the 

meantime, only a few of the 209 

possible congeners are commonly 

used as flame retardants, so 

resolution of all 209 is not critical. 

The common commercial flame 

retardants are called Penta, Octa 

and Deca, though, for example, the 

Penta product is actually composed 

of 45% penta-BDE, 40% tetra and 

6% hexa congeners. Worldwide, 

the deca product, for which there 

is only one congener, is the most 

widely used, making up 83% by 

weight of the total usage. This 

congener is therefore the most 

important analytically. It is also 

the most difficult to measure. 

GC-ICP-MS Analysis 

Because the ICP-MS measures only 

the bromine, molecular weight is 

2 Agilent ICP-MS Journal January 2004 - Issue 18 www.agilent.com/chem/icpms

not an issue for detection. Also, 

ICP-MS exhibits extremely high 

sensitivity and selectivity for bromine, 

eliminating possible interferences 

from other halogenated polyaromatic 

compounds. In this work [3], a mixture 

of 14 PBDE congeners ranging from 

#1 to #209 were analyzed by GC- 

ICP-MS. Operating conditions are 

given in Table 1. A chromatogram 

of the 10 ppb PBDE standard mix 

can be seen in Figure 2 with the 

identity of the peaks given in Table 2. 

GCAgilent 6890 with 

ALS and ChemStation 

software 

Column DB-XLB, 30m x 0.25mm 

LD x 0.1um (Agilent 

part # 122-1231) 

Carrier Helium at 36cm/sec 

gas (1.5mL/min) at 100°C, 

constant flow mode 

Injector 320°C, splitless, 1uL 

Detector Agilent 7500cs ICP-MS, 

monitoring Br at m/z=81 

Table 1 Summary of GC-ICP-MS configuration 

Based on signal to noise measured 

in the 10 ppb standard (Figure 3), 

approximate detection limits are in 

the range of 100 ppt, which is 

comparable to those achievable by 

GC using a micro-ECD detector. 

However the ICP-MS "detector" 

exhibits superior linearity; does not 

suffer from non-analyte interferences; 

and can definitively identify 

brominated compounds. GC-ICP-MS 

may well become the technique of 

choice for the trace level analysis 

of PBDEs in a variety of samples. 

Figure 3. Calibration curve (10ppb - 1 ppm) for 

PBDE-183 monitoring 79 Br 

www.agilent.com/chem/icpms 

Figure 2 GC-ICP-MS chromatogram of 10 ppb PBDE standard mix 

Peak Congener (2.5 mg/ml) 

1 2,2’,4-TriBDE (BDE-17) 

2 2,4’,4-TriBDE (BDE-28) 

3 2,3’,4’,6-TetraBDE (BDE-71) 

4 2,2’,4,4’-TetraBDE (BDE-47) 

5 2,3’,4,4’-TetraBDE (BDE-66) 

6 2,2’,4,4’6-PentaBDE (BDE-100) 

7 2,2’,4,4’5-PentaBDE (BDE-99) 

8 2,2’,3,4,4’-PentaBDE (BDE-85) 

9 2,2’,4,4’,5,6’-HexaBDE (BDE-154) 

10 2,2’,4,4’,5,5’-HexaBDE (BDE-153) 

11 2,2’,3,4,4’,5’-HexaBDE (BDE-138) 

12 2,2’,3,4,4’,5’,6-HeptaBDE (BDE-183) 

13 2,3,3’,4,4’,5,6-HeptaBDE (BDE-190) 

14 DecaBDE (BDE-209) (12,5 mg/ml) 

Table 2: PBDE peak identification 

References: 

1. S. Lunder and R. Sharp Tainted Catch, Environmental Working 

Group http://www.ewg.org 

2. J. Bjorklund, P Tollback and C Ostman, Poster Evaluation of the Gas 

Chromatographic Column System for the Determination of 

Polybrominated Dephenyl Ethers, Department of Analytical 

Chemistry, Stockholm University, Sweden 

3. E Kuhn, J. Ellis, S. Wilbur, T. Trainor, A. Gelbin GC Analysis of 

Polybrominated Flame Retardants Poster presented at Dioxin 2003 

Conference 

Agilent ICP-MS Journal January 2004 - Issue 18 

3

User Profile: ExperTox 

Inc. Specialists in 

Toxicology Testing 

Ernie Lykissa, 

ExperTox Inc, Texas, USA. 

Introduction 

ExperTox Inc. was established in 

1996 by Environmental Engineer 

Loretta M. Anderson and Forensic 

Toxicologist Dr. Ernest Lykissa, to 

address the increasing demand for 

toxicology studies from industry 

and State police departments. 

They equipped the laboratory with 

state-of-the-art instrumentation to 

tackle a varied workload including 

requests from individuals, industry 

or the police for certified analysis 

of biological specimens to include 

hair, urine blood, tissue and saliva. 

The most common request is to test 

for any evidence of poisoning or 

exposure to certain organics or heavy 

metals. ExperTox also conduct a full 

range of employment testing, including 

drug testing for non-prescribed 

narcotics. They will also establish 

baseline levels of residual metals 

present in contractors and employees 

working in heavy industry who may 

be exposed to toxic substances in the 

course of their work. Other examples 

of work undertaken include: 

• Analysis of food and nutritional 

supplements 

• Analysis of date rape drugs, 

drugs of abuse and steroids 

• Expert witness testimony in 

family, civil and criminal courts 

A team of chemists, biologists, 

medical technicians and toxicologists 

use a full range of analytical 

equipment, including ICP-MS, GC- 

MS, LC-MS, EIA (electrothermal 

atomization), HPLC and microscopic 

analysis, to carry out a full evaluation 

and report for each project. 

The Role of ICP-MS 

ExperTox Inc were one of the first 

laboratories in the US to endorse 

the Agilent ICP-MS. They purchased 

a 4500 in 1996 and one of the first 

7500 systems in 2000. With previous 

experience as the head of a drug 

testing department for a large 

pharmaceutical company, Dr Lykissa 

was confident that all the heavy metal 

determinations could be handled 

directly by ICP-MS without the need 

to invest in additional techniques 

like Graphite Furnace Atomic 

Absorption (GFAAS). "GFAAS is old 

technology, ICP-MS is a much more 

powerful and productive technique 

that suits our needs perfectly," 

commented Dr Lykissa. 

Analysis of Clinical Samples 

Primarily, ICP-MS is used to 

determine heavy metals such as lead, 

cadmium, chromium, cobalt, mercury 

and platinum. First, all samples of 

urine, blood, and other tissues are 

hydrolyzed in 5 % HNO3. Gold is 

added (10 ug/L) to stabilize any 

mercury present in the specimens. 

The toxic concentration of most 

heavy metals is in the high ppb (ug/L) 

range. Anything higher than that is 

indicative of an acute exposure and 

would require further investigation. 

The samples are then analyzed using 

the 7500a ICP-MS fitted with a High 

Solids (Babington type) nebulizer 

and standard quartz spray chamber. 

The instrument is optimized using 

a solution containing Li, Y, Ce and 

Tl (10ppb) for standard low-oxide/low 

interference levels (~0.3% CeO/Ce) 

while maintaining high sensitivity 

across the mass range. Typical 

instrumental conditions are displayed 

in Table 1. 

Parameter Value 

Forward Power 1200 W 

Plasma Gas Flow 15.0 L min-1 

Auxiliary Gas Flow 1.0 L min-1 

Nebulizer Gas Flow 1.2 L min-1 

Sampling Depth 0.5 mm 

Integration time 3 sec 

No. replicates per 3 

analysis 

Table 1 Instrumental conditions 

Results and Discussion 

For quantitative results, the 

instrument is calibrated using a 

mixed concentration multielement 

solution containing Ag, As, Cd, Co, 

Cr, Ni, Pb, Se, Al, Cu. Hg is calibrated 

with its own standard. Analysts 

also employ commercial quality 

controls for whole blood and urine 

that contain the above metals in 

normal and elevated concentrations. 

Table 1 shows 7500a data obtained 

on five different days compared to 

reference values obtained from preassayed 

blood reference standards. 

Element Ref ICP-MS data 

value 

ng/mL 

over 5 days 

As 88 88.2, 83.5, 85.3, 88.9, 

88.2 

Cd 13 12.4, 12.8, 12.5, 12.8, 

12.8 

Cr 60 54.6, 58.5, 59,2, 55.6, 

56.7 

Pb 57 57.2, 57.0, 57.7, 56.8, 

57,2 

Hg 43 42.4,42.8,44.2,43.5, 

43.6 

Se 570 562 , 573, 576, 568, 

567 

Table 1. ICP-MS control performance data over 

5 different days 

Case Study Example 

ExperTox worked on the case of a 

prominent cardiologist who suspected 

an estranged girlfriend of poisoning 

him. Tests determined the arsenic 

level in his urine to be 850 ug/L - 

way in excess of normal levels of 

20 ug/L and toxic levels of 100 

ug/L. Could this be a case of foul 

play? Upon close examination and 

testing of his house, CCA (copper, 

chromium, arsenic salt) treated 

wood and insulation material were 

discovered in the attic. Recent 

flooding in the area had created 

damp conditions for mold to thrive. 

The mold had absorbed considerable 

amounts of the toxic CCA which was 

spread throughout the house after 

gaining access to the air-conditioning 

ducts. The physician abandoned his 

house immediately and his urinary 

arsenic levels returned to normal, 

in a period of 30 days! Case solved. 

For more information on Expertox 

visit: http://www.expertox.com 

7500 Makes TV Debut! 

A 7500 ICP-MS and other Agilent equipment, 

including a 5973 GC-MS, can be seen in the 

current series of the US TV show Crime Scene 

Investigation (CSI). CSI is a very popular 

American primetime series that features a 

team of forensic investigators trained to solve 

crimes by careful analysis of the crime scene 

evidence. Equipping the forensics lab with 

state-of-the-art instrumentation adds to the 

credibility of the show - if not to its popularity. 


Agilent On-line 

Resources at 

Your Fingertips 

Karen Morton, Agilent UK 

Have you seen the latest video 

release on the Agilent ICP-MS web 

site? Follow the link from 

www.agilent.com/chem/icpms and 

witness the immediate effectiveness 

of the Octopole Reactions System 

(ORS) via the two video clips. This 

is just one reason to go on-line, other 

reasons could be to: 

•Find and download literature 

including application notes, 

technical descriptions and past 

issues of the ICP-MS Journal. 

•Get an answer to an application 

or instrument question on the 

improved ICP-MS User Forum. 

There are now more than 300 

members registered and more 

than 70 questions and answers 

posted. 

•Overview the principles of ICP-MS 

and benefits of the 7500 Series. 

•Attend our online e-Seminars. 

•Check our calendar of events. 

•Find support tools. 

•Place orders instantly (in the 

U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico) 

at the moment. 

The Agilent web site is designed to 

be user-friendly, making use of clear 

links and a clean layout to create a 

resource that users will return to 

without hesitation. 

Why not register on the Agilent web 

site using the "log-in" link? You are 

invited to complete your profile to 

receive the latest news of interest 

to you. Be amongst the first to 

receive the ICP-MS Journal. 


Reaching these resources is quick and easy. 

Web address: www.agilent.com/chem/icpms. 

Search for literature in the 

"Library" 

Find out all you need to know about the 

Agilent ICP-MS systems, accessories 

and software 

You can access the ICP-MS and ORS Principle 

pages from here, or find out about events 

where you can meet members of the Agilent 

ICP-MS team. 

Check the Highlights 

for the latest 

information 

Once registered on 

the Agilent web site, 

ICP-MS users can join 

the User Forum - a 

great place to get 

hints from other users 

Access ICP-MS 

literature quickly 

through these Library 

Information links 

Click here for technical 

queries or to find 

some information on 

parts 

Request a quote, 

place an order or 

check the status of an 

order here. 


5

Phosphorus in 

Phosphorylated 

Deoxyribonucleotides 

using LC-ICP-MS 

Daniel Profrock, Peter Leonhard 

and Andreas Prange, GKSS Research 

Centre Geesthacht, Germany. 

Introduction 

Phosphorus plays an important role in 

cell biology for protein phosphorylation, 

energy storage and transport at 

the cellular level or as one essential 

part of the ribose-deoxyribose 

phosphorus backbone in the RNA 

or DNA chain [1]. The measurement 

of phosphorus would provide 

information about the phosphorylation 

state of a protein, which, in turn, has 

a significant effect on different 

metabolic pathways. Measuring 

phosphorus can also be used for the 

detection and quantification of RNA 

or DNA due to the fixed stoichiometry 

of this element in the above mentioned 

macro molecules. 

ICP-MS represents a highly sensitive 

technique for the determination of 

phosphorus in biological samples. 

Moreover, the Agilent 7500c Octopole 

Reaction System (ORS) ICP-MS 

overcomes the limitation of 

conventional systems by removing 

the interferences caused by 

polyatomic ions ( 14 N 16 O 1 H, 15 N 16 O) 

on mass 31 P [2]. 

ICP-MS Experiments 

The 7500c was optimized to minimize 

the background of the interfering 

ions on phosphorus while maintaining 

good overall sensitivity. 

Instrumental detection limits for 

the simultaneous determination of 

phosphorus and other trace elements 

in an aqueous solution were 

calculated. 

Detection limits down to 125 ng/L 

were achieved for phosphorus and 

from 18 ng/L ( 55Mn) up to 49 ng/L 

( 54Fe) for other trace elements 

measured simultaneously. The 

detection limits for all elements 

measured are summarized in Table 1. 

Isotope (mass) Detection limit 

(ng/L) 

P (31) 125 

Cr (52) 21 

Mn (55) 18 

Fe (54) 49 

Ni (58) 26 

Co (59) 19 

Cu (63) 25 

Zn (66) 37 

Cd (114) 32 

Pb (208) 24 

Table 1 Detection limits for phosphorus and some 

selected simultaneously detected trace elements 

in an aqueous, acidified solution, estimated 

according to the method outlined in ref. 3. 

HPLC-ICP-MS Experiments 

Using UV detection at 254.4nm, 

method optimization was undertaken 

with a mixture of dUMP, dAMP, 

dGMP, dCMP and cTMP. Based on 

the results, a 15 mmol L21, pH 5.8 

ammonium acetate buffer and 2.5% 

methanol (v/v) were used for all 

further experiments. The setup 

provides baseline separation of the 

five investigated compounds in ca. 12 

min. 

Figure 1a shows a chromatogram of 

the element specific determination 

of phosphorus in deoxynucleotides 

obtained by HPLC-ORS-ICP-MS. 

Single compound samples were used 

for peak assignment. The chromatogram 

shows one phosphorus- containing 

(but not UV active) peak, which 

remains unidentified. Detection 

limits based on the compound and 

on phosphorus were calculated for 

each dNMP - see Table 2. An aliquot of 

enzymatically digested calf thymus 

DNA sample was also separated 

under optimized HPLC conditions - 

see Figure 1b. The four nucleotides 

were baseline separated. Single 

compound samples and mixtures of 

commercially available deoxynucleotides 

were used for peak identification. 

Figure 1 Separation and element 

specific detection of calf thymus 

DNA digested with nuclease P1 

analyzed with HPLC-ORS-ICP-MS. 

(a) Mixture of dAMP, dCMP, dGMP 

and dTMP (100 mg/L of each compound) 

measured on the mass of 31 

P for comparison of the retention 

times. (b) Enzymatic digest of calf 

thymus DNA with nuclease P1 

measured on the mass of 31 P. 

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2003, 18, 708-713 - 

Reproduced by permission of The Royal 

Society of Chemistry 

The four peaks in the chromatogram 

could be clearly assigned to dAMP, 

dGMP, dCMP and dTMP by comparison 

of the retention times. New unknown 

peaks were also found during 

chromatographic separation of 

enzymatically digested DNA samples 

which could not be identified by 

comparison of the retention times. 

Species DL species DL of P DL of P 

(ug/L) in dNMP 

(ug/L) 

absolute (pg) 

dAMP 48 5 50 

dGMP 56 6 60 

dCMP 42 4 40 

dTMP 34 3 30 

Table 2. Detection limit for phosphorus in 

monophosphorylated deoxynucleotides obtained 

with HPLC-ORS-ICP-MS 

Conclusions 

Using the Agilent 7500c ORS-ICP-MS 

as a sophisticated detector for HPLC 

has proved to be a suitable technique 

for the separation and element specific 

determination of phosphorylated 

deoxynucleotides via the phosphorus 

located in the sugar backbone of each 

nucleotide. Polyatomic ions formed 

in the plasma and the interface region 

of the ICP-MS that interfere with the 

determination of P at mass 31 were 

minimized by the addition of helium 

to the collision cell, allowing detection 

limits down to 3 ug/L for dTMP. 

Furthermore, used as a standalone 

ICP-MS, the Agilent 7500c can be used 

for the simultaneous determination of 

phosphorus and other trace elements 

in acidified aqueous solutions down 

to the low-ppt level. 

References 

1 G. Loffler and P. E. Petrides, Biochemie 

und Pathobiochemie, Springer, 1998, pp. 

23-30. 

2 N. Yamada, J. Takahashi and K. Sakata, J. 

Anal. At. Spectrom., 2002, 17, 1213-1222. 

3 D. R. Bandura, V. I. Baranov and S. C. 

Tanner, Anal. Chem., 2002, 74, 1497-1502. 


New Agilent ICP-MS 

Team in North 

America 

Karen Morton, Agilent UK 

karen@agilenticpms.com 

Agilent is investing heavily in 

technical support for its ICP-MS 

users in North America. Don Potter 

has taken over management of the 

technical sales and applications 

support in the Americas. In addition 

to his existing position as ICP-MS 

Program Manager in Europe, Don 

is now also ICP-MS Program Manager 

for the Americas (Chris Tye performs 

a similar role for Agilent covering 

Japan and Asia/Pacific region). 

Don brings 20 years of experience 

in ICP-MS (11 years with Agilent) 

to the Americas team, and some 

new team members to increase the 

level of our support. 

Technical sales support is now 

handled by two product specialists: 

Brenda Watson, based in Houston, 

TX, has been with Agilent for 15 

years, formerly working in R&D, 

and as a field engineer. Brenda is 

responsible for the Western US 

states plus TX and LA. We also 

welcome back Abe Gutierrez 

(Weston, FL), who is responsible 

for the Eastern US and Canada. 

Abe originally spent 6 years with 

Agilent as an ICP-MS applications 

chemist and product specialist, 

and brings a wealth of experience 

to the team. We are also excited to 

announce the addition of Lisa 

Clark to our team, who will be 

working with Abe in a technical 

support role. Lisa joins us from 

Ashland Chemicals where she was 

an inorganic lab manager. While at 

Ashland, Lisa set up a state of the 

art semiconductor chemicals clean 

lab. We will be offering Lisa's 

expertise on a consultancy basis to 

advise on the set up of a trace 

metals analysis lab or laboratory 

clean room design. 

We have also made significant 

additions to our applications support 

team. Chris Scanlon (Livonia, MI) 

who has 10 years experience in 

ICP-MS as a product specialist with 

Agilent moves to applications 

support, joining Emmett Soffey 

(Bellevue, WA), also with 10 years 

ICP-MS experience at Agilent. 

Emmett, like Chris, also has many 


The Agilent ICP-MS Team at the Winter Plasma Conference, January 2004, Ft. Lauderdale, USA 

years experience with GC and LC 

and supports our fast expanding 

GC-ICP-MS and LC-ICP-MS userbase. 

Due to the increased demand for 

on-site ICP-MS consulting and 

classroom training, we have also 

formed an applications consultant 

team. We currently have three fully 

trained consultants whom we 

contract with to provide on-site 

training. Dr. Johan Schijf of the 

University of S. Florida has been 

delivering our training classes at our 

Wilmington, DE facility for the past 

two years, and we welcome Dr Tom 

Rettberg, formerly VG/Thermo 

ICP-MS manager, into the team as 

applications consultant. Tom has over 

15 years experience in ICP-MS and 

is very well known in the industry. 

We also welcome back former Agilent 

application chemist Mike Radle as 

a consultant for semiconductor 

applications. 

In addition to this very strong team, 

we also have Steve Wilbur (Bellevue, 

WA), worldwide environmental 

ICP-MS specialist based in the US. 

Steve is one of the leading authorities 

on GC-ICP-MS, having co-developed 

the Agilent GC interface and written 

extensively on the subject. 

For hardware support, we now have 

22 factory trained ICP-MS hardware 

engineers in N. America and we 

will add more as needs arise. This 

team is supported and trained by 

ICP-MS product support engineer 

Ron Sanderson (Dayton, OH) to 

ensure our ICP-MS support is 

maintained at the highest standards 

available in the industry. 

Agilent is absolutely committed to 

supporting its N. American ICP-MS 

customers and with this new team 

now in place we are confident we 

are delivering the highest quality 

support for our ICP-MS customers. 

We'll bring you news of additions 

to our ICP-MS support teams in 

Latin America, Europe and 

Asia/Pacific in future issues of the 

ICP-MS Journal. 

Some contact e-mail addresses are 

given below: 

Don Potter 

don_potter@agilent.com 

Chris Scanlon: 

chris_scanlon@agilent.com 

Abe Gutierrez: 

abe@agilenticpms.com 

Emmett Soffey: 

emmett_soffey@agilent.com 

Brenda Watson: 

brenda_watson@agilent.com 

Tom Rettberg: 

trett@agilenticpms.com 

Dr. Johan Schijf: 

johan@agilenticpms.com 

Lisa Clark: 

lisa@agilenticpms.com 

Mike Radle: 

mike@agilenticpms.com 


7

ICP-MS e-Seminar 

Series 2004 

Join our free 60 minute e-seminars 

designed to help you get the most 

from your Agilent ICP-MS from the 

comfort of your office. 

Applying Reaction Cell ICP-MS to 

Routine Multielement Analysis 

Ed McCurdy (Manchester, UK) 

February 18 - 2pm UK, 3pm 

Europe, 9am EST, 6am PST 

February 25 - 2 pm EST, 11am PST 

Environmental Analysis: 

A Comparison of Cell and Non-cell 

ICP-MS 

Emmett Soffey (Bellevue, WA, USA) 

March 16 - 2pm UK, 3pm Europe, 

9am EST, 6am PST 

March 23 - 2 pm EST, 11am PST 

Developments in Speciation 

Measurement with ICP-MS as a 

Detector 

Steve Wilbur (Bellevue, WA, USA) 




Semiconductor Applications of 

Octopole Reaction Cell ICP-MS 

Abe Gutierrez (Miami, FL, USA) 




Reaction Cell ICP-MS for 

Environmental Metals Analysis 

Steve Wilbur (Bellevue, WA, USA) 

April 8 - 4pm UK, 5pm Europe, 


To register visit 


and click on the e-Seminar 

Highlight for more information. 

Toll-free or local rate phone numbers 

are now available in the following 

countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, 

Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, 

Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, 

Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA. 

Events 

Pittcon 

March 7-12 2004, Chicago, USA 

http://www.pittcon.org/ 

Forum Labo 

March 23-26 2004, Paris, France 

http://www.forumlabo.com 

This information is subject to change 

without notice 

© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2004 

Printed in the U.S.A. January 27, 2004 

5989-0588EN 

New Members of the Agilent ICP-MS Club 

A very warm welcome to the following companies and institutions 

that have recently added an Agilent ICP-MS to their analytical facilities. 

• North Creek Analytical 5, USA • Texas DOH, USA • Westinghouse 

Savannah River 2, USA • UCLA, USA • USDA Alameda, USA • Ministerio 

de Salud, Panama • USDA Riverside, USA • Batelle 2, USA • GLA Labs, 

USA • BSI Inspectorate, USA • Univ of Delaware, USA • Chiron, USA • 

Georgia EPA, USA • Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Mexico • Jamaica 

Bureau of Standards, Jamaica • CEPIS, Peru • Policia de Investigaciones 

de Chile, Chile • ETH Zurich, Switzerland •ARPA Perugia, Italy • Agri 

Paradigma, Italy • STUA Lunebourg, Germany • Paks, Hungary • Uni 

Graz 4, Austria • Labor Dr Wessling 3, France •Labor Dr Wessling 2, 

Germany • Uni Essen 2, Germany • Uni Seville, Spain • Special Metals, 

UK • AES Howden, UK • LGC 2, UK • ATU, Germany • Inst of Food 

Research, UK • ASM Terni, Italy • Amdel Industrial & Environmental, 

Australasia • Chinese University HK, Hong Kong • KT & G Central 

Research Institute, Korea • Nongshim Anyang Factory, Korea • Ministry 

of Agriculture, PR China • Qingdao Ocean University, PR China • 

Shanghai Jintong University, PR China • UMC (Hsinchu) 2, Taiwan, • 

UMC (Hsinchu) 3, Taiwan 

Easier to Use Agilent ICP-MS User Forum 

The Agilent ICP-MS User Forum is now much easier to use and more 

intuitive thanks to its new and more powerful platform. For those not 

familiar with the User Forum, it's an on-line tool designed strictly for 

Agilent ICP-MS users wishing to share information relating to their ICP-MS. 

Questions can be applications, hardware, software, model/accessory, 

support specific or anything you like! New features include: 

• Identify new postings and discussions of interest to you. 

• Elect to "subscribe" to receive e-mail notification of new postings. 

• Search previous postings for key words or phrases using the basic or 

advanced search facility. 

• Rate your interest in the discussion, and even choose to ignore a topic 

that isn't relevant to you. 

Why not take a look? 

To access the ICP-MS Users Forum, simply go to www.agilent.com/chem/icpms 

and click on the ICP-MS User Forum link. First time visitors will need to 

register on the Agilent web site. New subscribers will also be prompted to 

enter their instrument serial number on their first visit only. Existing 

members will simply need to log in, as usual. Then simply click through 

to join the Forum. 

Please feel free to share your opinions on the ICP-MS User Forum with 

us at any time by sending an e-mail to karen@agilenticpms.com. 

Recent Agilent ICP-MS Publications 

To view and download these latest publications, go to 

www.agilent.com/chem/icpms and look under "Key Information" 

Technical Overview: ChemStation Software Suite for Agilent Technologies 7500 Series 

ICP-MS, 5989-0205EN 

Application Note: Fast and Accurate Determination of Arsenobetaine (AsB) in Fish 

Tissues using HPLC-ICP-MS, 5988-9893EN 

Application Note: Determination of Mercury in Microwave Digests of Foodstuffs by 

ICP-MS, 5989-0027EN 

Application Note: Speciation of Volatile Selenium Species in Plants using GC-ICP-MS, 

5988-9461EN 

Agilent ICP-MS Journal Editor 

Karen Morton for Agilent Technologies 

e-mail: editor@agilent.com

Agilent ICP-MS Journal - Agilent Technologies

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