Determination of Heavy Metal Elements in Chinese Traditional Herbs by ICP-MS

An ICP-MS method was proposed for the determination of heavy metal elements: As,Pb,Cd,Cr,Hg and Ni in Chinese traditional herbs.The herb sample was digested with HNO3-H2O2 in a closed vessel in microwave digestor.The analytes in the sample solution were then determined by ICP-MS.Sc,Y,In and Bi were selected as the internal standards to compensate matrix effects.Approprate isotopes of the elements determined were selected to eliminate MS interferences.Working conditions were optimized.DL of the analytes was in range of 0.001-0.006 μg·L-1.Recovery were in the range of 90%-107% and RSD′s found were less than 3.2%.