Determination of Trace Elements in Wines by High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

In this paper, the application of high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) for the determination of trace elements (Al, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, Ti, U, V, and Zn) in wine is presented. We investigated the advantages of using HR-ICP-MS in terms of resolving spectral interferences in complex wine matrices and optimized the analytical method to account for non-spectral interferences caused by the presence of nitric acid and ethanol. In addition, we compared the quantitative and semi-quantitative modes of analysis for the determination of trace elements in diluted wine samples using HR-ICP-MS. Ten-fold dilution of wine samples, with In used as the single internal standard, and quantification based on matrix-matched calibration standards was found to be the best choice in terms of achieved sensitivity and elimination of possible spectral and non-spectral interferences. No significant differences were observed between white and red wines based on recovery percentages, accuracy, and precision. Quantitative and semi-quantitative modes of analysis gave comparable results in terms of LOD values, precision (RSD < 5%) and accuracy (differences < 20%) in both red and white wine. These results indicate that both quantitative and semi-quantitative modes of analysis are applicable for the trace element determination of wines with HRI-CP-MS. In comparison with quadrupole instruments used for wine analysis in the semiquantitative mode, HR-ICP-MS offers higher quality of data in terms of precision over the whole mass range, regardless of element concentration.