title: A microwave plasma torch quadrupole mass spectrometer for monitoring trace levels of lead and cadmium in water.
abstract: The microwave plasma torch (MPT) is a low power-consumption and easily operated plasma generator. As an ambient ion source, the MPT can be coupled with various mass spectrometers and applied in real-time analysis of metal elements in water for the demands of environmental control and water quality inspection.
  
  
  
  We constructed a quadrupole mass spectrometer with an MPT as the ion source to detect directly trace levels of lead and cadmium in water. Without any pretreatments,water samples were first pneumatically nebulized with a desolvation unit, then flowed through the central tube of the MPT and finally entered the plasma. After that, the metal ions produced were introduced into the mass spectrometer to be analyzed via an atmospheric inlet of a stainless steel capillary tube.
  
  
  
  The MPT mass spectra of lead and cadmium ions were characterized with clear unit isotopic resolution. The sensitivity reached levels of 20 ng/L for lead and 72.7 ng/L for cadmium in water, respectively. The linear response range covered at least 2 orders of magnitude. Moreover, a single aqueous sample could be completely analyzed within 3 minutes, providing reasonably relative standard deviation values.
  
  
  
  Our results demonstrated that this MPT mass spectrometer is a useful tool for the monitoring of lead and cadmium ions in water, which makes it a potential alternative to ICP-MS, to be used in the fields of environmental control and water quality and foodstuff safety inspection. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shangrao Normal University, Jiangxi, 334001, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Jiangxi Key Laboratory for Mass Spectrometry and Instrumentation, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Jiangxi Key Laboratory for Mass Spectrometry and Instrumentation, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the 1st Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis*; D004867:Equipment Design; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008872:Microwaves; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead