ABSTRACT
The classic way to compensate for a physical interference is to use internal standardization. Researchers have reported that by using the combination of highly reactive gases in a collision/reaction cell with cold plasma conditions, efficient reduction of some polyatomic interferences was achieved. Although interferences are reasonably well understood in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), it can often be difficult and time-consuming to compensate for them, particularly in complex sample matrices. Interferences in ICP-MS are generally classified into three major groups: spectral, matrix, and physical. Spectral overlaps are probably the most serious types of interferences seen in ICP-MS. The most common are known as a polyatomic or molecular spectral interference and are produced by the combination of two or more atomic ions. One type of matrix suppression is caused when the sample affects the ionization conditions of the plasma discharge.
