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The sensitivity of the Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) signal was Investigated for dry aerosols generated by spark discharges, as well as aerosols generated by a conventional ultrasonic nebulizer (USN).Particle sizes of the generated aerosols were <300 nm and the I CP sensitivity was not Influenced by particle size. The small amount of residual water after the desolvator (1.5 mg/mln) did not change the plasma conditions, since the excitation temperature In the plasma remained constant within 61 K for the dry and wet aerosols. Nevertheless, mixing of the dry aerosol with H20/HN03 droplets resulted In a reduction of the I CP signal by 43.1% which could be attributed to scavenging of analyte particles by the droplets generated In the USN. An absolute calibration of the ICP-OES signal by neutron activation analysis was performed using silver aerosols. With these calibration data the nebulizing efficiency of the USN was determined, and a value of (5.2 ± 0.5)% was found.

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