25 2 JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY JUNE 1991 VOL. 6 Book Review Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry. The Proceedings of the Third Surrey Conference on Plasma Source Spectro- metry Edited by K. E. Jarvis A. L. Gray I. Jarvis and J. Williams. Pp. vii + 172. Royal Society of Chemistry. Special Publication No. 58. 1990. Price L35.00 (soft cover). ISBN 0 85 186 567 4. The Proceedings of the Third Surrey Conference of Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry have been made available as a Special Publication by The Royal Society of Chemistry. The 12 articles printed in the book were originally pre- sented at this biennial international con- ference last held July 16-19 1989 at the University of Surrey Guildford UK. The collection of articles published in the book reflect the wide range of both re- search investigations and practical appli- cations currently being explored by the users of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and they could be considered a representative sampling of the latest developments in this still relatively new analytical tech- nique.The international character of the field is also reflected by the nationalities of the authors. This soft-cover small- size book is edited and indexed clearly printed and illustrated and has a com- fortable feel in the hands all of which add to its reader appeal. ‘Processes of Laser Ablation and Vapour Transport to the ICP’ by L. Moenke-Blankenburg et a/. (Germany) provides a fundamental explantion of laser microanalysis and describes some of the considerations in using laser abla- tion for sample introduction into the ICP.Although the specific example cited here is ICP atomic emission spectrometry (AES) the information is equally val- uable and applicable for ICP mass spectrometry (MS). ‘Introduction of Microsamples into Plasmas’ by K. Dit- trich and associates (Germany) describes the use of various electrothermal vapori- zation (ETV) techniques for high effi- ciency introduction of microsamples into the ICP. These procedures can be used for either ICP-AES or ICP-MS. D. Beauchemin and J. M. Craig (Canada) discuss the use of a sheathing device to add H or N gas to the nebulizer flow of the ICP in ‘Investigations on Mixed Gas Plasmas Produced Using a Sheathing Device in ICP-MS’. The effects of these gases on the analytical perfor- mance of an ICP-MS system are described for several elements.R. C. Hutton and co- workers (UK) explain the use of a low- gain analogue detection mode for extend- ing the capability of ICP-MS to high analyte concentrations in ‘Analytical Per- formance of Analogue Detection in ICP- MS’. Intelligent software incorporatedJOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY JUNE 1991 VOL. 6 253 into the ICP-MS system can provide auto- matic selection of either the conventional pulse counting mode or the analogue mode greatly extending the dynamic range of analyte concentration in a single sample analysis. In ‘The Determination of Titani- um Copper and Zinc in Geological Materi- als by ICP-MS with Multivariate Calibration’ M. Ketterer et al. (US) detail the application of multiple linear regres- sion with external calibration and standard additions for the ICP-MS determination of analytes in the presence of isobaric inter- ferences.A general mechanism for imple- menting multivariate calibration in ICP- MS is also included. The low detection limits and multi- element capability of ICP-MS make it especially useful for environmental and biological studies. ’Evaluation of ICP- MS for the Determination of Trace and Ultra-trace Elements in Human Serum after Simple Dilution’ by H. Vanhoe and associates (Belgium) is an example of the application of ICP-MS to difficult biological analyses. E. J. McCurdy (UK) describes a new open-acid procedure for the complete digestion of plant material in ‘The Preparation of Plant Samples and Their Analysis by ICP-MS’.The utility of the procedure is demonstrated by the digestion and analysis of reference mate- rials. New sample preparation methods are further explored in ‘Basic Study on the Application of Tetramethylammoni- um Hydroxide (TMAH) Alkaline Diges- tion for the Determination of Some Volatile Elements by ICP-MS’ by T. Cho et al. (Japan). They evaluate the new al- kaline digestion procedure using biologi- cal reference materials and they establish the optimal ICP-MS operating conditions for the best analytical results of the TMAH-digested samples. Rhenium and osmium abundances and their isotopic ratios in geological materi- als have been determined by ICP-MS by several workers. Such data can be used as a geochronometer to determine age and genesis of ore deposits and can contribute to the understanding of geological pro- cesses.This application of ICP-MS is re- viewed by J. M. Richardson and associates (Canada) in ‘Re-Os Isotope Ratio Determinations by ICP-MS A Review of Analytical Techniques and Geological Applications’. Inductively coupled plasma MS has found many applications in the field of nuclear chemistry. ‘The Feasibility of the Use of Electrothermal Vaporization Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry for the Determination of Femtogramme Levels of Plutonium and Uranium’ is addressed by R. J. B. Hall et al. (UK). In this example the poten- tials for ultra-trace analysis by ICP-MS combined with ETV is demonstrated by the determination of actinide elements in human urine and ‘The Determination of Actinides in Environmental Samples by ICP-MS’ by J. Toole e f al. (UK) further explores the potential of ICP-MS in nuclear-related studies. In this work plu- tonium uranium and neptunium are de- termined in a range of environmental samples including freshwater marine pore-water sea-water soil mussels silt and sediment. Finally ‘The Application of ICP-MS to the Analysis of Iron Materials’ is reported by J. A. F. Moore and co- workers (UK). This application demon- strates the use of ICP-MS to determine trace impurities in iron-rod stock mat- erials and addresses some potential analytical problems from high iron con- centrations in the sample matrix. The collection of articles published here present a good overview of current activities in the field of plasma source mass spectrometry. . Lynda M. Faires US Geological Survey Denver CO USA