Dear Alfonso,
I enjoyed meeting you, Jacinta, the supersecretaries in the office, the super sample prep chemist, whose name (I apologize) I can,t remember, students, and others at Unicamp, talking about ICP-MS and other geeky stuff, and seeing the superlaser. I hope that after I recover my sight from looking too closely, I will see you all again someday (just joking - Alfonso knew better than to let me get close to an operating laser), we can have lunch again sometime. Thanks to all there for not laughing too much at my bad Portuguese, even though I know that I said some funny things (without trying).
I hope you get the laser system working well.
Tudos la foram muito simpaticos, que bom conocerlhes!
Abracos a tudos,
Steve Pappas
de ferias em Brasil de
CDC
________________________________

De: PLASMACHEM-L: Analytical Chem.(ICP's, DCP's, MIP's). em nome de Alfonso Schrank
Enviada: 12/17/2010 10:13
Para: [log in to unmask]
Assunto: Re: Sulfuric acid vs. alumina injector



Dear Steve?

Besides the discussion above, I`d like to thank you very very much for your
visit to our group of Geosciences here in Campinas, Brazil.

Our best regards,

Alfonso.

2010/12/17 Pappas, Richard Steve (CDC/ONDIEH/NCEH) <[log in to unmask]>

> I agree with Lyndon on concern for subsequent S issues. I have used up to
> 5% H2SO4 with no ill effects on an alumina injector -at least no rapid
> effects. If I were going to subsequently analyze for S, 48Ti, or 64 Zn, I
> would not use it with ICP-MS. However, without cones on an ICP-OES, the
> effect would be less.
> Just as we might use dilute HCl, HF, or H2SO4 to clean certain metals out
> of a system, one could use maybe 50 ppb of magnesium,lanthanum, or cerium to
> aid in sulfate clean out from the introduction system if that would not
> interfere  with something else.
> De ferias em Brasil,
> Steve Pappas
> CDC

Dr. Alfonso Schrank
Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources
Unicamp (State University of Campinas)