The ICP-OES facility houses a Perkin-Elmer 5300 DV inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometer which can be used for rapid, simultaneous determination of most elements. This instrumentation is most commonly used for the analysis of water and dissolved inorganic materials such as minerals, metals, and waste.

Complete with a Cetac auto sampler, the ICP-OES can run up to 250 samples in a single session. Samples travel to the plasma through a peristaltic pump system and are introduced into the instrument using a concentric nebulizer. Excited atoms and ions are produced in the plasma which emits electromagnetic radiation at wavelengths characteristic of a particular element.