The historical development of atomic spectrometry techniques based on chemical vapor generation by both batch and flow injection sampling formats is presented. Detection via atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), microwave induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP-OES), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) , inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and furnace atomic nonthermal excitation spectrometry (FANES) are considered. Hydride generation is separately considered in contrast to other methods of generation of volatile derivatives. Hg <FONT FACE=Symbol>¾</FONT> CVAAS (cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry) is not considered here. The current state-of-the-art, including extension, advantages and limitations of this approach is discussed.
chemical vapor generation; atomic spectrometry; batch and flow injection
