TY - CONF A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Drescher, D. A1 - Büchner, T. A1 - Merk, V. A1 - Kneipp, J. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Studying nanoparticle-cell interaction by LA ICP-MS N2 - The interaction of nanoparticles (NPs) with cells has become a major field of interest, ranging from medical applications to nanotoxicology. Size, shape and surface modification of the NPs determine the uptake rate and pathway into the cells, and therefore impact specific cell components and processes. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is an established quantitative multi-elemental analysis and mapping technique. In recent years, it was shown that LA-ICP-MS can provide quantitative as well as distribution information of NPs in cell samples. Here LA-ICP-MS was applied for the imaging of individual cells to study the uptake and intracellular processing of metal-containing nanostructures. Additionally, the local distribution of naturally occurring elements in cells like P was measured to indicate cell morphology. The cells were incubated with different types of NPs under varying experimental conditions. For LA analysis, the cells were fixed and dried. Our findings show, that LA-ICP-MS is suitable for the localisation of nanoparticle aggregates within cellular compartments. The studied NPs accumulate in the perinuclear region in the course of intracellular processing, but do not enter the cell nucleus. The uptake efficiency depends strongly on the physicochemical properties of the nanostructures as well as on the incubation conditions like concentration and incubation time. The results demonstrate the potential of LA-ICP-MS providing insight into NP uptake, intracellular distribution and cell-to-cell variation dependent on experimental parameters. T2 - Workshop on Laser Bioimaging Mass Spectrometry CY - Münster, Germany DA - 24.05.2018 KW - Imaging KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS KW - Nanoparticle KW - Cell PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45071 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cruz-Alonso, M. A1 - Fernandez, B. A1 - Álvarez, L. A1 - González-Iglesias, H. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Pereiro, R. T1 - Bioimaging of metallothioneins in ocular tissue sections by laser ablation-ICP-MS using bioconjugated gold nanoclusters as specific tags N2 - An immunohistochemical method is described to visualize the distribution of metallothioneins 1/2 (MT 1/2) and metallothionein 3 (MT 3) in human ocular tissue. It is making use of (a) antibodies conjugated to gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) acting as labels, and (b) laser ablation (LA) coupled to inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).Water-soluble fluorescent AuNCs (with an average size of 2.7 nm) were synthesized and then conjugated to antibody by carbodiimide coupling. The surface of the modified AuNCs was then blocked with hydroxylamine to avoid nonspecific interactions with biological tissue. Immunoassays for MT 1/2 and MT 3 in ocular tissue sections (5 μm thick) from two post mortem human donors were performed. Imaging studies were then performed by fluorescence using confocal microscopy, and LA-ICP-MS was performed in the retina to measure the signal for gold. Signal amplification by the >500 gold atoms in each nanocluster allowed the antigens (MT 1/2 and MT 3) to be imaged by LA-ICP-MS using a laser spot size as small as 4 μm. The image patterns found in retina are in good agreement with those obtained by conventional fluorescence immunohistochemistry which was used as an established reference method. KW - Metal nanoclusters KW - Fluorescence KW - Protein imaging KW - Thin tissue sections KW - Immunohistochemistry KW - Bioconjugation KW - Carbodiimide crosslinking KW - Laser ablation KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2597-1 VL - 185 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-44022 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cruz-Alonso, M. A1 - Fernandez, B. A1 - Alvarez, L. A1 - Gonzalez-Iglesias, H. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Pereiro, R. T1 - Bioimaging of metallothioneins in ocular tissue sections by laser ablation-ICP-MS using bioconjugated gold nanoclusters as specific tags N2 - An immunohistochemical method is described to visualize the distribution of metallothioneins 1/2 (MT 1/2) and metallothionein 3 (MT 3) in human ocular tissue. It is making use of (a) antibodies conjugated to gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) acting as labels, and (b) laser ablation (LA) coupled to inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Water-soluble fluorescent AuNCs (with an average size of 2.7 nm) were synthesized and then conjugated to antibody by carbodiimide coupling. The surface of the modified AuNCs was then blocked with hydroxylamine to avoid nonspecific interactions with biological tissue. Immunoassays for MT 1/2 and MT 3 in ocular tissue sections (5 μm thick) from two post mortem human donors were performed. Imaging studies were then performed by fluorescence using confocal microscopy, and LA-ICP-MS was performed in the retina to measure the signal for gold. Signal amplification by the >500 gold atoms in each nanocluster allowed the antigens (MT 1/2 and MT 3) to be imaged by LA-ICP-MS using a laser spot size as small as 4 μm. The image patterns found in retina are in good agreement with those obtained by conventional fluorescence immunohistochemistry which was used as an established reference method. KW - Nanocluster KW - Immunohistochemistry KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS KW - Fluorescence KW - Bioimaging PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2597-1 SN - 1436-5073 SN - 0026-3672 VL - 185 IS - 1 SP - 64 EP - 72 PB - Springer CY - Vienna AN - OPUS4-44637 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pisonero, J. A1 - Bouzas-Ramos, D. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Cappella, Brunero A1 - Alvarez-Llamas, C. A1 - Richter, Silke A1 - Mayo, J. C. A1 - Costa-Fernandez, J. M. A1 - Bordel, N. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Critical evaluation of fast and highly resolved elemental distribution in single cells using LA-ICP-SFMS N2 - The analytical potential of a nanosecond laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ns-LA-ICP-SFMS) system, equipped with an ultra-fast wash-out ablation chamber, is critically investigated for fast and highly spatially resolved (∼μm) qualitative elemental distribution within single cells. Initially, a low surface roughness (< 10 nm) thin In–SnO2 layer (total coating thickness ∼200 nm) deposited on glass is employed to investigate the size, morphology and overlapping of laser-induced craters obtained at different laser repetition rates, making use of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Conical craters with a surface diameter of about 2 µm and depths of about 100 nm were measured after a single laser shot. Furthermore, the influence of the sampling distance (i.e. distance between the sample surface and the inner sniffer of the ablation chamber) on the LA-ICP-MS ion signal wash-out time is evaluated. A significant decrease of the transient 120Sn+ ion signal is noticed after slight variations (±200 μm) around the optimum sampling position. Ultra-fast wash-outs (< 10 ms) are achieved reducing the aerosol mixing from consecutive laser shots even when operating the laser at high repetition rates (25 – 100 Hz). Fast and highly spatially resolved images of elemental distribution within mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (NIH/3T3 fibroblast cells) and human cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa cells), incubated with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and Cd-based quantum dots (QDs), respectively, are determined at the optimized operating conditions. Elemental distribution of Au and Cd in single cells is achieved using a high scanning speed (50 µm/s) and high repetition rate (100 Hz). The results obtained for the distribution of fluorescent Cd-based QDs within the HeLa cells are in good agreement with those obtained by confocal microscopy. The size, morphology and overlapping of laser-induced craters in the fixed cells are also investigated using AFM, observing conical craters with a surface diameter of about 2.5 µm and depths of about 800 nm after a single laser shot. KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS KW - Nanoparticle KW - Atomic Force Microscopy KW - Cell PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja00096d SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-45564 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Phukphatthanachai, Pranee A1 - Vogl, Jochen A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Quantification of sulphur in copper metals by isotope dilution LA-ICP-MS using polyethylene frits N2 - Sulphur is one of the relevant impurities in copper and its alloys affecting their material properties. To ensure the quality of copper products, fast direct solid sampling techniques are very attractive. However, for the calibration suitable matrix reference materials are required. For the certification of such reference materials appropriate, SI-traceable analytical methods are essential. Therefore, a procedure was developed to quantify total sulphur in copper by combining the classical isotope dilution (ID) technique and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Here, for the first time, polyethylene (PE) frits were used to prepare appropriate solid samples for the sulphur quantification in copper metals (alloyed/unalloyed) by isotope dilution LA-ICP-MS. The properties of the PE frit meet the requirements as porous material with high absorption efficiency, thermal and chemical resistance as well as low sulphur blank. Different copper reference materials were used to develop and validate the procedure. The copper samples were spiked with 34S, digested with nitric acid and then the digests were absorbed on PE frits. After drying, the frits were analysed by LA-ICP-IDMS using a Nd:YAG laser at 213 nm coupled to an ICP sector field mass spectrometer. It could be demonstrated, that the sample solution dispersed on the frits did not influence the 32S/34S ratio significantly even though the sulphur intensities were fluctuating along the scanned lines. Relative standard deviations of the isotope ratios were below 5 % in average between three line scans (except for the pure spike solution and procedure blank). The measurement results were validated by comparing them with the results obtained by conventional ICP-IDMS after analyte-matrix separation. Plotting the mass fraction of sulphur in copper obtained by LA-ICP-IDMS versus those obtained by ICP-IDMS yields a linear curve with a correlation coefficient of 0.9999 showing a strong agreement between both techniques. The metrological traceability to the SI from the kg down to the sulphur mass fraction in copper is established by an unbroken chain of comparisons, each accompanied by an uncertainty budget. Thus, the measurement results are considered reliable, acceptable and comparable within the stated measurement uncertainty. T2 - 14th European Workshop on Laser Ablation (EWLA) CY - Pau, France DA - 26.06.2018 KW - ICP-MS KW - Laser ablation KW - Isotope dilution KW - Copper PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45569 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Drescher, D. A1 - Büchner, T. A1 - Pisonero, J. A1 - Bouzas-Ramos, D. A1 - Kneipp, J. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - LA-ICP-MS to study nanoparticle-cell interaction N2 - Nanoparticles (NPs) have found a wide range of applications in research and industry. Thereby the interaction of NPs with biological systems like cells has become a major field of interest, ranging from medical applications to nanotoxicology. Size, shape and surface modification of the nanomaterials determine the uptake rate and pathway into the cells, and therefore impact specific cell components and processes. In recent years, elemental imaging of biological samples using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is gaining more and more importance. Improvements concerning both spatial resolution (down to 1 µm) and signal-to-background ratio due to low-dispersion LA chambers make LA-ICP-MS particularly interesting for single cell analysis. Here LA-ICP-MS was applied for the imaging of individual cells to study the uptake and intracellular processing of metal-containing nanostructures. The cells were incubated with different NPs under varying experimental conditions and afterwards fixed with para-formaldehyde and dried for LA analysis. High-spatial resolution LA-ICP-MS was achieved by careful optimisation of the laser ablation parameters. Our findings show, that LA-ICP-MS is applicable to localize NP aggregates within cellular compartments. The uptake efficiency depends strongly on the physicochemical properties of the nanostructures as well as on the incubation conditions like concentration and incubation time. The results demonstrate the potential of LA-ICP-MS providing insight into nanoparticle-cell interaction dependent on experimental parameters. T2 - 14th European Workshop on Laser Ablation (EWLA) CY - Pau, France DA - 26.06.2018 KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS KW - Imaging KW - Nanoparticle KW - Cell PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45570 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Büchner, T. A1 - Drescher, D. A1 - Merk, V. A1 - Kneipp, J. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Studying nanoparticle-cell interaction by ICP-MS based techniques N2 - Nanoparticles (NPs) have found a wide range of applications in research and industry. Thereby the interaction of NPs with biological systems like cells has become a major field of interest, ranging from medical applications to nanotoxicology. Size, shape and surface modification of the nanomaterials determine the uptake rate and pathway into the cells, and therefore impact specific cell components and processes. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a well-established analytical method offering high sensitivity and multi-element capability. By coupling a laser ablation (LA) system to an ICP-MS the analysis of different kinds of solid samples is possible. In recent years, it was shown that LA-ICP-MS can provide quantitative as well as distribution information of metal containing nanoparticles (NPs) in cell samples. Here LA-ICP-MS was applied for the imaging of individual fibroblast cells to study the uptake and intracellular processing of NPs. Our results show that LA-ICP-MS can be used to localize nanoparticle aggregates within cellular compartments. The studied NPs accumulate in the perinuclear region in the course of intracellular processing, but do not enter the cell nucleus. The uptake efficiency depends strongly on the physico-chemical properties of the nanostructures as well as on the incubation conditions like concentration and incubation time. ICP-MS was used to determine the composition of the nanomaterials as well as the number of NPs in cells after acid digestion of the samples. T2 - Workshop on Reference Nanomaterials CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.05.2018 KW - ICP-MS KW - Laser ablation KW - Nanoparticle KW - Cell PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45073 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Piechotta, Christian A1 - Iznaguen, Hassan A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Köppen, Robert A1 - Witt, Angelika A1 - Jung, Christian A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Oleszak, Katrin A1 - Bücker, Michael A1 - Urban, Klaus A1 - Reger, Christian A1 - Ostermann, Markus T1 - Bewitterungsszenarien im Vergleich – Veränderungen in der Oberflächenmorphologie von Polypropylen (PP) und Polystyrol (PS) unter dem Aspekt des Austrags von polybromierten Flammschutzmitteln N2 - Gegenstand der vorzustellenden Arbeiten ist die Prüfung der Umwelt-beständigkeit und -verträglichkeit von Materialien und Produkten hinsichtlich der Emission von potenziellen Schadstoffen in die Umwelt. Hierzu werden chemisch-physikalische Einflüsse (Bewitterung) und mikrobielle Beanspruchungen an Modellmaterialien evaluiert. So werden die Freisetzungsraten von Schadstoffen in Abhängigkeit der Beanspruchung beschrieben. Als Modellmaterialien kommen die Polymere Polystyrol (PS) und Polypropylen (PP) zum Einsatz. Synergistische Effekte der Bewitterungsparameter und der mikrobiologischen Beanspruchung sollen dabei ebenso betrachtet werden, wie die gezielte Alterung. Auch findet eine Beschreibung des Verhaltens der ausgetragenen Schadstoffe in den Umweltkompartimenten Boden oder Wasser statt. Hier sind mit Hilfe der zu entwickelnden Screening- und non-Target-Analyseverfahren die Transformation und der Metabolismus durch Mikroorganismen zu beschreiben. Aus den Ergebnissen sollen Korrelationen zwischen den künstlichen Alterungsverfahren und realen Szenarien abgeleitet werden. T2 - 47. Jahrestagung der GUS CY - Blankenloch-Stutensee, Germany DA - 21.03.2018 KW - Schadstoffaustrag KW - Umweltsimulation KW - Bewitterung PY - 2018 SN - 978-981-18507-2-7 VL - 47 SP - 115 EP - 128 AN - OPUS4-49802 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Büchner, T. A1 - Drescher, D. A1 - Merk, V. A1 - Kneipp, J. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Studying nanoparticle-cell interaction by ICP-MS based techniques N2 - Nanoparticles (NPs) have found a wide range of applications in research and industry. Thereby the interaction of NPs with biological systems like cells has become a major field of interest, ranging from medical applications to nanotoxicology. Size, shape and surface modification of the nanomaterials determine the uptake rate and pathway into the cells, and therefore impact specific cell components and processes. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is an established quantitative multi-elemental analysis and mapping technique. In recent years, it was shown that LA-ICP-MS can provide quantitative as well as distribution information of metal containing nanoparticles (NPs) in cell samples. Here LA-ICP-MS was applied for the imaging of individual fibroblast cells to study the uptake and intracellular processing of NPs. Our results show that LA-ICP-MS can be used to localize nanoparticle aggregates within cellular compartments. The studied NPs accumulate in the perinuclear region in the course of intracellular processing, but do not enter the cell nucleus. The uptake efficiency depends strongly on the physico-chemical properties of the nanostructures as well as on the incubation conditions like concentration and incubation time. ICP-MS was used to determine the composition of the nanomaterials as well as the number of NPs in cells after acid digestion of the samples. T2 - 13. Symposium „Massenspektrometrische Verfahren der Element­spurenanalyse“ & 26. ICP-MS-Anwendertreffen CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 03.09.2018 KW - ICP-MS KW - Nanoparticle KW - Cell KW - Laser ablation PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45860 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Loehr, Konrad A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Wanka, Antje Jutta A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Quantification of metals in single cells by LA-ICP-MS comparison of single spot analysis and imaging N2 - LA-ICP-MS is increasingly used for single cell analysis in two different detection modes using either the imaging mode with subcellular resolution or alternatively single spot analysis of cells with a larger laser spot size. This study compares the analytical figures of merit of both detection modes (signal to noise, precision, accuracy, throughput), as well as ease of operation and data evaluation. Adherent 3T3 fibroblast cells were stained with two metal dyes (mDOTA-Ho, Ir-DNA-intercalator) and several dozen cells were measured using both modes. We found a ten times higher throughput for single spot analysis, which has as well a straightforward data analysis, shortening the total analysis time further. The signal to noise ratio for single spot analysis was found to be slightly better compared to the signal to noise of pixels in imaging. The mean metal intensity per single cell differed by only 10% between both modes and obtained distributions were found to show no statistically significant differences. Using matrix matched calibration based on standards spotted onto nitrocellulose membrane, we achieved detection limits (10 σ) of 12 fg for Ir and 30 fg for Ho and quantified 57 ± 35 fg Ir and 1,192 ± 707 fg Ho per single cell. Compared to a conventional ICP-MS measurement of a digest of ~60,000 cells, 54 % of Ir content and 358 % Ho content was found using quantitative LA-ICP-MS. The difference might be a consequence of the two metal dyes binding to different structures of the cell and therefore might behave differently in sample preparation for conventional and LA-ICP-MS. KW - Single cell analysis KW - LA-ICP-MS PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja00191j SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 33 IS - 9 SP - 1579 EP - 1587 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-45903 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Traub, Heike T1 - LA-ICP-MS for the analysis of nanoparticles in cells N2 - Many current nanomaterials can serve as contrast agents in cellular or tissue imaging, drug delivery vehicles or therapeutics, whereas others can cause toxic effects. In order to evaluate nano-bio interactions, the number of nanoparticles (NPs) inside cells as well as their localisation within cellular substructures is of particular interest. The cellular uptake depends on the primary characteristics of the NPs (e.g. size, shape, surface coating) and on the cell type. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‑ICP‑MS) is more and more used to study the NP pathway from uptake, via intracellular processing up to cell division. High-spatial resolution laser ablation at single cell level is achieved using novel low-dispersion LA chambers and by careful optimisation of laser energy, ablation frequency and scan speed at small laser spot sizes down to 1 µm. Different examples from BAM, Division 1.1 and cooperation partners using LA-ICP-MS to localize and quantify metal-containing nanoparticles are shown. The results demonstrate the potential of LA-ICP-MS providing insight into NP uptake, intracellular distribution and cell-to-cell variation. T2 - 13. Symposium "Massensprektrometrische Verfahren der Elementspurenanalyse" + 26. ICP-MS Anwendertreffen CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 03.09.2018 KW - Laser ablation KW - Cells KW - Nanoparticles KW - Imaging PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46440 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Löhr, Konrad A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Wanka, Antje Jutta A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Quantification of metals in single cells by LA-ICP-MS: Comparison of single spot analysis and imaging N2 - LA-ICP-MS is increasingly used for single cell analysis in two different detection modes using either the imaging mode with subcellular resolution or alternatively single spot analysis of cells with a larger laser spot size. This study compares the analytical figures of merit of both detection modes (signal to noise, precision, accuracy, throughput), as well as ease of operation and data evaluation. Adherent 3T3 fibroblast cells were stained with two metal dyes (mDOTA-Ho, Ir-DNA-intercalator) and several dozen cells were measured using both modes. We found a ten times higher throughput for single spot analysis, which has as well a straightforward data analysis, shortening the total analysis time further. The signal to noise ratio for single spot analysis was found to be slightly better compared to the signal to noise of pixels in imaging. The mean metal intensity per single cell differed by only 10% between both modes and obtained distributions were found to show no statistically significant differences. Using matrix matched calibration based on standards spotted onto nitrocellulose membrane, we achieved detection limits (10s) of 12 fg for Ir and 30 fg for Ho and quantified 57 +/-35 fg Ir and 1192 +/- 707 fg Ho per single cell. Compared to a conventional ICP-MS measurement of a digest of about 60000 cells, 54% of Ir content and 358% Ho content was found using quantitative LA-ICP-MS. The difference might be a consequence of the two metal dyes binding to different structures of the cell and therefore might behave differently in sample preparation for conventional and LA-ICP-MS. KW - Cells KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS KW - Metals KW - Quantification PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja00191j SN - 0267-9477 VL - 33 IS - 9 SP - 1579 EP - 1587 PB - RSC Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-46441 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Phukphatthanachai, Pranee A1 - Vogl, Jochen A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - A new approach of using polyethylene frits for the quantification of sulphur in copper metals by isotope dilution LA-ICP-MS and comparison with conventional IDMS techniques N2 - Polyethylene (PE) frits were used to quantify sulphur in copper and its alloys by isotope dilution combined with LA-ICP-MS as an alternative approach to conventional sample preparation: the copper samples were spiked, the spiked samples were dissolved, the resulting solutions were absorbed in the PE frits and finally the PE frits were analysed by LA-ICP-MS. A prerequisite for such a support material is a low sulphur blank and thus PE was selected for this purpose. The absorption efficiency of the PE frits was studied for varying sulphur amounts ranging from 2 mg S to 80 mg S showing that more than 99.5% of the loaded sulphur was absorbed by the frit. The so prepared PE frits were measured by LA-ICP-MS and yielded a good linearity (R2 ¼ 0.999) for the sulphur ion intensities corresponding to sulphur amounts up to 40 mg S; the associated sensitivity is approximately 3.4 x 10⁴ cps μg⁻¹ for ³²S. For the validation of the developed procedure the reference materials BAM-M376a, BAM-228 and BAM-227 were applied such that 2 μg S, 5 μg S and 11 μg S were absorbed in the PE frits, respectively. These samples were pre-quantified for the adsorbed sulphur amount by external calibration LA-ICP-MS yielding sulphur amounts of 0.9 μg, 5.1 μg and 8.5 μg (quantified for ³²S only), respectively. Relative Standard deviations of the isotope ratios were below 5% in average (n ¼ 3 lines) in all cases (except for the pure spike solution). These samples were then analysed by LA-ICP-IDMS and the measurement results were validated by comparing them with the results obtained by conventional ICP-IDMS. The obtained relative expanded measurement uncertainties ranged between 10% and 26%. Pearson's coefficient was used to express the correlation between both techniques; the obtained value was 0.999 demonstrating a strong correlation. Contrary to most published LA-ICP-IDMS procedures, the developed procedure enables SI-traceability for the measurement results. The metrological traceability to the SI for the sulphur mass fractions in copper was established by an unbroken chain of comparisons, each accompanied by an uncertainty budget. Thus, the measurement results are considered reliable, acceptable and comparable within the stated measurement uncertainty. The metrological traceability chain from the kg down to mass fraction in the samples obtained by LA-ICP-IDMS is presented as well. KW - Laser ablation KW - IDMS KW - Traceability KW - Uncertainty KW - Purity PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja00116b SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 33 IS - 9 SP - 1506 EP - 1517 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-45899 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -