Interlaboratory determinations of isotopically enriched metals by field desorption mass spectrometry

The isotopic distribution of stable isotopes in six enriched metals (calcium, copper, barium, rubidium, strontium and thallium) has been determined by field desorption mass spectrometry. A first evaluation of the interlaboratory reproducibility of the application of this method for trace determination of metals was made using three different types of mass spectrometers in three different laboratories. The standard deviations for the most abundant isotopes of the metals investigated are between +-0.1 and +-0.5%. Within these standard deviations, the values obtained by the three mass spectrometry groups are the same. To support the accuracy of our quantification, thermal ionization mass spectrometry has been employed and confirms the results of the field desorption method.