Abstract
A sensitive method for sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) determination was developed with reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) by preconcentrating SO(2) from gas samples to solutions. O(2) flow rate was set at 0.7 ml min(-1) for optimal signal to noise ratio at m/z 48 ((32)S(16)O(+)). Favourable conditions to prepare SO(2) concentrated solutions including sampling flow rate, the volume of concentrated solution, the number of perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA) bubble absorption bottles and the composition of concentrated solution were investigated using SO(2) in nitrogen gas reference materials within the range of 5.00 parts per billion (ppb) to 1.00 parts per million (ppm). A limit of detection (LOD) of 0.11 ppb was achieved, corresponding to 100 l 5.00 ppb SO(2) with a sampling flow rate of 0.5 l min(-1). This method also showed favourable selectivity in the assay of atmosphere SO(2) level, providing its promising further application in monitoring gaseous environmental pollutants.