Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a suitable method for determining Pb isotope ratios. This study investigates the effectiveness of a mass discrimination correction technique, which is based upon the addition of TI to the sample and measurement of the 205TI:203TI ratio. The TI correction method has been found to be highly effective for minimizing bias and drift in Pb isotope ratios under a variety of operating and sample matrix conditions, and for various samples independently analysed by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Biases for ratios with respect to 204Pb are generally controlled at <0.5% and relative standard deviations of 0.2% are attainable. Results using ICP-MS for environmental samples compare favourably with those obtained by TIMS. This correction technique is sutiable for routine analysis of environmental samples.
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Ketterer et al. (1991) studied this question.