Determination of Heavy Metals in Ceramic Food Packaging Containers by ICP-MS

The direct determination method of heavy metals, Pb, Cd, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, As and Sb in food packaging ceramics was studied by using inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Factors influencing the determination were also studied in detail. By choosing the optional operating parameters and appropriate isotopes of the element to be detected, the influence of mass spectrometry interference was conquered effectively. The detection limits were 0.023 mu g . L-1 for Pb, 0.004 mu g . L-1 for Cd, 0.030 mu g . L-1 for Cr, 0.025 mu g . L-1 for Ni, 0.012 mu g . L-1 for Sb, 0.180 mu g . L-1 for Zn, 0.017 mu g . L-1 for As, and 0.002 mu g . L-1 for Co. The recovery rates of the method were between 95.8% and 104.4%. The RSDs were between 1.1% and 3.3%. The method was simple, rapid, precise, convenient and suitable for daily inspection of import and export ceramic ware.