Patent ID: 7755033

Claim:
A method for analyzing minute amounts of Pd, Rh and Ru as target elements comprising: (1) a step of pretreating a sample by an alkali fusion method using a sodium compound; and (2) a step of analyzing the pretreated sample using a high-frequency plasma mass spectroscope; wherein, in step (2), the distance between a sampling cone and a skimmer cone is adjusted such that the concentration of 40 Ar 65 Cu which interferes with Pd, the concentrations of 40 Ar 63 Cu and 40 Ar 40 Ar 23 Na which interfere with Rh, and the concentrations of 38 Ar 63 Cu and 40 Ar 38 Ar 23 Na which interfere with Ru are all equal to or less than 0.05 ppb.