DETERMINATION OF TRACE-ELEMENTS IN FUEL OILS BY INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY AFTER ACID MINERALIZATION OF THE SAMPLE IN A MICROWAVE-OVEN

Trace elements in fuel oils have been analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after acid solubilization of the samples in a microwave oven. The results relative to the National Institute of Standards and Technology SRM 1634b and SRM 1619 show good accuracy and precision for about 20 elements. The detection limits are, for most of the elements, in the range 0.02-0.2 mu g g(-1); values that are consistent with the concentrations of metallic impurities present in fuel oils. The good agreement obtained on real samples using neutron activation analysis is a demonstration that ICP-MS can compete with a well established reference technique for the determination of trace metals in fuel oil.