Atomic spectrometry update: review of advances in atomic spectrometry and related techniques

This review covers developments in ‘Atomic Spectrometry’. It covers atomic emission, absorption, fluorescence and mass spectrometry, but excludes material on speciation and coupled techniques which is included in a separate review. It should be read in conjunction with the other related reviews in the series.1–6 A critical approach to the selection of material has been adopted, with only novel developments in instrumentation, techniques and methodology being included. Developments worthy of note include photochemical and electrochemical methods of vapour generation, single particle analysis using ICP-MS and the development of new methods for direct plasma generation in liquid samples. The use of MC-ICP-MS continues to grow in importance for isotope ratio measurements in fields as diverse as geochronology, nuclear forensics and biomedical research. Laser-based methods are also important in many fields, particularly for direct and stand-off analysis of solid samples.