Metal screening analysis includes the semi-quantitative determination of 70 elements. The method is suitable e.g. to determine the background concentrations of environmental samples or to study the elemental distribution of unknown samples. The method can be used to evaluate which metals in a sample should be analyzed by a quantitative method. The measurement is performed using a high-resolution ICP-MS technique (ICP-SFMS), which is able to identify very low elemental concentrations. The method includes the semi-quantitative determination of the following elements: Ag, Al, As, Au, B, Ba, Be, Bi, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Dy, Er, Eu, Fe, Ga, Gd, Ge, Hf, Hg, Ho, I, Ir, K, La, Lu, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Nd, Ni, Os, P, Pb, Pd, Pr, Pt, Rb, Re, Rh, Ru, S, Sb, Sc, Se, Si, Sm, Sn, Sr, Ta, Tb, Te, Th, Ti, Tl, Tm, U, V, W, Y, Yb, Zn and Zr. Some elements may not be determinable due to matrix interference.