Determination of rare earth elements in small-volume seawater by off-line preconcentration system and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

An analytical method was developed for determining rare earth element (REE) concentrations in seawater using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A relatively small-volume seawater sample (25 ml) was used for chemical separation. REE concentrations in 20-fold preconcentrated solution by an off-line preconcentration system were analyzed by ICP-MS with microflow nebulizer. The recoveries were mostly higher than 95%. To assess the analytical method, REE concentrations of the North Atlantic Surface Seawater (NASS-5), a seawater certified reference material, were measured with the proposed preconcentration procedure. Results obtained in this study are consistent with those of previous studies with good precision