Water plays a fundamental role in analytical chemistry, serving as a fundamental component in various techniques, including elemental analysis. Its quality is crucial, particularly in ensuring the safety and quality of food products and drinking water. However, challenges arise in maintaining high standards during sample preparation and analysis, where impurities can lead to inaccurate results. The use of high-purity water is essential to minimize background interference and support reliable analytical outcomes, thereby addressing safety and quality control concerns.

Elemental analysis often involves detecting trace contaminants such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury, which can pose significant health risks. These contaminants are difficult to analyze, especially when they are present in low concentration levels, and because of potential contamination during sample preparation. Ensuring accurate detection of these harmful elements requires meticulous attention to the purity of the different reagents and the analytical environment.

In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of ultrapure water in the ICP-MS analytical process, focusing on calibration curves and other critical parameters to achieve reliable detection of trace elements in both drinking water and food samples (organic and non-organic). We first analyzed 11 critical elements in food samples, and a total of 31 elements in drinking water samples using methods performed by testing laboratories, which aligned with established standards. Additionally, a low-level-concentration analytical method was used to measure trace levels of the same 31 elements in ultrapure water.

Our study underscores the critical importance of high-purity water in achieving compliance with safety standards and enhancing the overall quality of analytical measurements, ultimately enabling scientists to draw robust and accurate conclusions.