ABSTRACT
The mass spectrometer, in combination with a chromatographic inlet system is probably the most powerful and most useful tool available to the environmental analyst. Mass spectra are commonly displayed as vertical lines, located at the unit mass values along the X axis, with the height of each line proportional to the intensity of the ion current found at that mass. To obtain spectra with much larger molecular ion peaks chemical ionization, Chemical Ionization is often used. For liquid chromatography the interfacing of the mass spectrometer with the chromatograph is more difficult, since the eluent and the sample may both be more similar in their volatility than they are in gas chromatography. The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is a rather recent development, which has spread rapidly since commercial instruments came on the market in 1983. A match with a high score for purity indicates that the spectra match well, with few extraneous mass peaks showing in the sample.
