Overcoming inductively coupled plasma (ICP) washout is one of the main concerns scientists face when using these instruments to analyze samples due to the risk of contamination. The term ‘washout’ refers to removing a sample solution from the sample introduction system throughout the analysis process. Throughout this post, we will examine what ICP washout is and how it can be overcome to improve your laboratory analysis processes.
What is ICP?
Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry (or ICP-MS), is a version of mass spectroscopy where an inductively coupled plasma is used to ionize a sample. This works because ICP is a high-temperature ionization source which offers high sensitivity and accurate analysis when used to detect elements at trace levels in biological samples. ICP-MS is used in var