The influence of ethanol addition on the determination of trace elements in aqueous solutions by ICAP.

The effect of the addition of ethanol to aqueous solutions of various trace elements (Ca, Cd, Mg, Cu and Ni) on their spectral line intensities in inductively coupled argon plasma (ICAP) was investigated. Using a relatively low ethanol content (up to 10%, v/v) an enhancement of both atomic and ionic lines was found but to a different extent. By optimization of experimental parameters, an improvement of the sensitivity of the multielemental analysis was obtained.