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Application of laser ablation multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the measurement of calcium and lead isotope ratios in packaging for discriminatory purposes
Author(s) -
SantamariaFernandez Rebeca,
Wolff JeanClaude
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.4603
Subject(s) - chemistry , isotope , inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , mass spectrometry , isotope ratio mass spectrometry , laser ablation , nist , chromatography , laser , physics , quantum mechanics , natural language processing , computer science , optics
The potential of high‐precision calcium and lead isotope ratio measurements using laser ablation coupled to multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS) to aid distinction between four genuine and five counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging samples and further classification of counterfeit packaging samples has been evaluated. We highlight the lack of reference materials for LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS isotope ratio measurements in solids. In this case the problem is minimised by using National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material (NIST SRM) 915a calcium carbonate (as solid pellets) and NIST SRM610 glass disc for sample bracketing external standardisation. In addition, a new reference material, NIST SRM915b calcium carbonate, has been characterised in‐house for Ca isotope ratios and is used as a reference sample. Significant differences have been found between genuine and counterfeit samples; the method allows detection of counterfeits and aids further classification of packaging samples. Typical expanded uncertainties for measured‐corrected Ca isotope ratio values ( 43 Ca/ 44 Ca and 42 Ca/ 44 Ca) were found to be below 0.06% (k = 2, 95% confidence) and below 0.2% for measured‐corrected Pb isotope ratios ( 207 Pb/ 206 Pb and 208 Pb/ 206 Pb). This is the first time that Ca isotope ratios have been measured in packaging materials using LA coupled to a multicollector (MC)‐ICP‐MS instrument. The use of LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS for direct measurement of Ca and Pb isotopic variations in cardboard/ink in packaging has definitive potential to aid counterfeit detection and classification. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.