Christelle Vastel

Determination of 20 trace elements in fish and other seafood from the French market.

The levels of 20 essential or toxic trace elements in 159 fish, other seafood and seafood products on the French coastal market collected between January and April 2005 were measured by ICP-MS. The concentration ranges (mg/kg of fresh mass) for the elements determined were compared with previous studies. The contents of Co, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Se, Zn and Pb found in fish are close to or often lower than previous studies. For other seafood, comparison is difficult due to the lack of data on a more global scale. However, it should be noted that the contents of Ag were found considerably higher in this study.

Optimisation of ICP-MS collision/reaction cell conditions for the determination of elements likely to be interfered (V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, As and Se) in foodstuffs.

A strategy for the accurate determination in foodstuffs of seven elements liable to be interfered with (V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, As and Se), was successfully applied. Firstly, to reduce spectroscopic interferences, four influential factors (hexapole and quadrupole bias, helium and hydrogen flows) of the collision/reaction cell device were optimised through the experimental design methodology. Secondly, non-spectroscopic interferences, which may severely disturb the analysis of matrices containing large amounts of non-target elements, were significantly reduced by a limited decrease in the flow rate of the optimum initial nebuliser rather than with a specific time-consuming dilution. Finally, the optimised multi-element method was subjected to a full validation that demonstrated its acceptable analytical performance.