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Analysis of lithium using a commercial quadrupole mass spectrometer
Author(s) -
Lloyd J. R.,
Field F. H.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
biomedical mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 0306-042X
DOI - 10.1002/bms.1200080106
Subject(s) - lithium (medication) , chemistry , mass spectrometry , alkali metal , isotope dilution , thermal ionization , analytical chemistry (journal) , detection limit , thermal ionization mass spectrometry , ionization , chromatography , ion , electron ionization , medicine , organic chemistry , endocrinology
A thermal ionization mass spectrometric technique using a commercial quadrupole instrument for the analysis of lithium is described. The thermal ionization is accomplished with 1.0 Torr of N 2 in the ionization chamber. The detection limit for lithium is approximately 5 pg. Isotope ratio measurements for commercial samples of various lithium salts were made using the selected ion monitoring technique. The precision was quite good (standard deviation = 0.1–0.3% (absolute)). Measurements of the concentration of lithium in several drinking waters and in urine were made using an isotope dilution method involving the addition of isotopically enriched lithium to the samples of interest. The proteins in the urine must be precipitated for the method to work. Lithium could be found in the urine of a healthy volunteer who ingested drinking water containing lithium. Survey experiments indicated that this apparatus and technique can be used for assays of the other alkali metals.