Demonstrating Rapid Qualitative Elemental Analyses of Participant-Supplied Objects at a Public Outreach Event

A public demonstration of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) for fast and sensitive qualitative elemental analysis of solid everyday objects is described. This demonstration served as a showcase model for modern instrumentation (and for elemental analysis, in particular) to the public. Several steps were made to adapt conventional laboratory-based ICP-MS instrumentation to bring it to the outreach event and also to improve ease-of-use, which helped facilitate discussion with attendees. Rather than the conventional closed-cell design, this setup consisted of a laser ablation (LA) system that allowed for ablation in ambient conditions which enabled swift sample exchange during the demonstration. A gas exchange device was operated between the LA system and the ICP-MS instrument allowing for the replacement of ambient gases with argon. This particular setup was utilized during an open day event to demonstrate how LA-ICPMS can be used for qualitative analysis of major and tr...