23N JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY APRIL 1994 VOL. 9 Conference Report 1994 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry January 10-1 5,1994 San Diego CA USA A typical view of the conference site Visiting San Diego is a pleasure at any time of year but with substantial tracts of the Eastern Seaboard of the US and Canada veiled in snow the Midwest shivering in record low temperatures and swathes of Northern Europe under flood water the city was a welcoming oasis for delegates to the 1994 Winter Plasma Conference trying to escape the ravages of the season. Many individuals arrived some days before the official conference began in order to take advantage of the excellently organized Short Courses. Subjects on offer were as diverse as Electrochemical Met hods Applications of Microwave Digestions and Communicating Effectively through Slides. Ramon Barnes’ opening remarks were tinged with sadness as he asked the assembly for a minute’s silence as we remem- bered Klaus Dietrich long a supporter of the Winter Plasma Conference who passed away recently.On a lighter note Professor Barnes spent several minutes presenting the many and varied delights offered by San Diego and environs to the assembly of envious hard working scientists who would sadly be too busy to enjoy them. If there was a basic theme to the 1994 Winter Plasma Conference it was one of plasma sources as a means of problem solving. Many speakers discussed elemental speciation as the next major hurdle of analytical chemistry. A considerable number of lectures presented the instrumentation as straight- forward detectors taking a flow of sample from a suitable unit for speciation.If there was another common theme throughout the proceedings it was the use of Gary Larson as the unofficial cartoonist of the Winter Conference many speakers used his rather ‘orthogonal’ view of life and the world to illustrate their various points. An impressive array of Plenary speakers were led off by Rick Browner who gave us a potted history of sample nebuliz- ation before describing recent studies into capillary nebulizers and more particularly oscillating capillary nebulizers (OCN). As an increasing number of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source instruments (optical and mass spectrometers) are being used as detectors for liquid chromatography and electrophor- esis such low flow concentric devices offer a vast improvement over conventional aerosol generation.We were encouraged to look into history before attempting any ‘new’ research and the pitfalls of re-invention of the wheel were brought home to all in the audience indeed Professor Browner backed up this philosophy with several texts from the Bible as an illustration. The growing maturity of ICP instrumentation was high- lighted by Professor Les Ebdon in his Plenary Lecture in his description of liquid chromatography and gas chromato- graphic separation of analytes with subsequent detection on an ICP mass spectrometer. The Plymouth group’s recent work on helium plasmas also excited interest. The ability to modify the ionization efficiency by changing the r.f. power produced an instrument which when coupled to a suitable speciation technique was able to perform both molecular and elemental JAAS Advisory Board Dinner. L to R Jim Harnly Mike Blades Greg Turk Ramon Barnes Jean-Michel Mermet Monique Mermet and Julian Tyson24N JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY APRIL 1994 VOL.9 A busy poster session analysis. The use of ICP-MS as a detection tool for speciation techniques was a topic also taken up by Dr. Jim McLaren in his Plenary presentation and Professor Joe Caruso who intro- duced supercritical fluid chromatography as a unique method of speciation. ICP-MS is a very sensitive method of analysis at the best of times but when used in conjunction with a means of preconcentration the level of contamination in blanks is of particular consequence.With almost missionary zeal in among the statistics associ- ated with chemometrics and technique validation Wolfgang Wegschieder of the University of Graz in Austria in his presentation exhorted his audience to pay more consideration to the definitions used in accuracy and precision. His excellent presentation left everybody in the lecture theatre thinking about their own approach to quality assurance. James Winefordner set the tone of the Thursday session on excitation mechanisms and plasma phenomena with a superb lecture. In his presentation Professor Winefordner managed to encompass almost every potential plasma-based excitation source and atomic spectrometer and still found time to present some data on methods of absolute analysis.In illustrating how he won his Plenary Lecture (a Star Wars light sabre fight with the chairman) and likening his life-long chase for low polyatomic interferences with Captain Ahab’s chase for Moby Dick Sam Houk continued to enthral his audience with recent results from his quest. Using techniques as diverse as cryogenic desolvation and off-axis ion optics Professor Houk showed how polyatomic species could be reduced in ICP-MS. Both Professor Houk and Professor Horlick (in a later lecture) summarized recent results from developments on sample introduction into quadrupole mass spectrometers via an electrospray. Both suggested that instru- ments suitably configured could be the new wave of systems which allow speciation and elemental analysis.Inductively coupled plasmas were not the only sources under discussion in San Diego. Mike Blades gave an excellent talk on furnace atomization plasma excitation spectrometry (FAPES) and various authors referred to d.c. and r.f.-sustained glow-discharge sources in conjunction with optical and mass spectrometric analysers. Apart from the fine presentations which lived up to every expectation each afternoon the Exhibition area hosted the Poster sessions which lifted the presentation form to new heights. Fortunately the week was not all work and as always there was the usual cut and thrust of debate on a variety of knotty subjects in venues other than the Scientific sessions. There Ian Begley (Loughborough University of Technology) prepared for questions on his poster The author enjoying the sun on the verandah of the lecture theatre were scveral enjoyable social events hosted by instrument manufacturers.Of particular note was the evening sponsored by Fisons Instruments which attracted a large audience. The Conference Dinner was held at Croce’s in the gaslamp district of San Diego and despite the cramped accommodation was a lively occasion. When Professor Barnes made his farewell speech to the individuals assembled in the Lecture Theatre at 5.45 on Saturday 15th January after six solid days of lectures posters and lively discussion sessions he presented statistics which verified what every delegate felt in his or her own mind; the Winter Plasma Conference has a unique vigour. There were over 520 registered delegates throughout the week a new Conference record. Dr Robert Hutton had the last word as he invited the audience to recreate the enthusiasm of the 1994 assembly in the historic university city of Cambridge UK the location of the European Winter Plasma Conference in January 1995. Chris Tye Fisons Instruments VG Elemental Ion Path Road Three Winsford Cheshire UK CW73BX