안정동위원소 비 측정을 위한 MC-ICP/MS 성능 평가 연구
최종우1·유은진1·김종대2·이강현1,†·이원석1·한진석1
1국립환경과학원 환경기반연구부 환경측정분석센터, 2INA Korea Co., Ltd

Study on Performance Evaluation of MC-ICP/MS
for measuring Stable Isotope Ratios
Jong-Woo Choi1, Eunjin Yoo1, Jongdae Kim2, Khanghyun Lee1,†, Won-seok Lee1, and Jinseok Han1
1Environmental Measurement & Analysis Center, Environmental Infrastructure Research Department,
National Institute of Environmental research, Environmental Research Complex, Incheon, 404-708, Korea
2INA Korea Co., Ltd, Seoul 121-800, Korea
Recceived February 25, 2013/Revised March 15, 2013/Accepted March 28, 2013

This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the MC-ICP/MS by using some standard metals
to test five items such as sensitivity, mass resolving power, detector noise, mass stability and precision of isotope
ratios. The sensitivities ranged from 148 to 578 Vppm-1 in the dry plasma system. The sensitivities were
improved as much as 1.2~2.5 times those of previous studies. The resolution (M/ΔM) at 10% peak height was
as high as 8352 for 142Nd. The mass drift was 30 ppm of the peak range during the 30-minute measurement.
Such high resolution and mass stability made it possible to separate purposed analytes from polyatomic interferents
more effectively. The noise levels of faraday detectors (1.5~2.7×10-5 V) and ion counting multipliers
(0.01~0.1 cps) were well below the performance standard. Analyzing the isotope ratios of Li, Sr, Nd, Pb and
U standard solutions showed that all but Li isotope ratios were in good agreement with those reported in the
previous studies. In conclusion, this study may build a new foundation for environmental research by suggesting
the use of isotope ratios to trace heavy metal sources and estimate their contributions, which will overcome
limitations in the existing methods of residual investigation and modeling.

Key words: Performance, MC-ICP/MS, Isotope ratios, Mass resolving power, Detector noise, Faraday detector,
Precision