Rapid determination of Metallic contaminants

Most metals exhibits their toxic effects in the trace range. Metallic contaminants even in low concentrations can be determined quickly using methods of atmoic spectrometry.

-Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
It is for detection of cationic (metals) hazards. It involves use of lamp (hollow cathode lamp) that emits electromagnetic radiation of a specific wavelength. Cationic hazards will absorb radiation resulting in their detection.
( A voltage is applied to the electrode sufficient to ionize the neon and the resulting cations are accelerated towards the cathode where it dislodge some of the metal atoms comprising the cathode surface producing an atom "cloud". This process is called sputtering.

-Inductively COupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES)
In plasma emission spectroscopy, a sample solution is introduced into the core of an inductively coupled argon plasma(ICP) at a temperature of 8000*C. At this temperature, all elements become thermally excited and emit light at their characteristic wavelengths. This light is collected by the spectrometer and passes through a diffraction grating that serves to resolve the light into a spectrum of its constituent wavelength.
Within the spectrometer, this diffracted light is then collected by wavelength and amplified to yield an intensity measurement that can be converted to an elemental concentration by comparison with calibration standards. This measurement process is a form of atomic emission spectroscopy.