1.4 Good practice guidelines
1. It is most important that the nebuliser, mixing chamber and burner are kept clean by carrying out
the correct shutdown procedure and by periodic maintenance. If high salt solutions are aspirated,
correspondingly longer periods should be spent aspirating deionised water prior to shut down.
2. It is recommended that blank and standard solutions should have a wetting agent (e.g. Triton X-100
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or Decon 90) added to promote good stability and self-cleaning. Any such wetting agent should be
non-ionic and used at a concentration of less than 3ppm. It should be added to the blank, standards
and samples at the same concentration.
3. Take care when preparing standards. The performance of the instrument depends upon the
accuracy and purity of the calibration standards.
4. If standard solutions are required to be stored for any length of time or at an elevated temperature,
a suitable mould inhibitor e.g. azide should be added. However if this contains the element to be
measured (e.g. sodium) it is important that the samples also contain an equivalent amount.
5. Always sample from the top half of the sample container. The bottom half may contain sediment or
particulate matter which could easily block the fine tubing used in the nebuliser.
6. Always use recommended spares. Even where an alternative part may be obviously suitable there
may be good reasons for not using it.
7. Never use glass containers to store calibration standards.
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Triton X-100 is a registered trademark of Union Carbide Chemicals and Plastics Co. Inc.
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