This is the third fundamental review on the subject of atomic mass spectrometry. No longer just a mainstay technique of organic analysis, mass spectrometry is increasingly being rediscovered as the method of choice in many inorganic analysis situations. A noticeable increase in ICP/MS publications has been observed compared to the previous reviews in this series. Other techniques, notably glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS), accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), and resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) have received increasing developmental and applications interest in the literature of the last 2 years. More established atomic MS techniques like thermal ionization and stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (TIMS, SIRMS, respectively) have found continued utility in geochemistry, radiochemistry, and biochemistry investigations. Surface analysts continue to rely almost exclusively on secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for surficial and depth-resolved compositional characterization. Interest in laser ionization mass spectrometry (LIMS), outside of RIMS-based methods, seems to have ebbed somewhat in the reviewed literature. Spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS), the paternal multielement mass spectrometric technique, refuses to yield completely to the newer techniques and was still in use in a surprising number of publications surveyed for this review. Other techniques, including sputtered neutrals mass spectrometry (SNMS), photon burst mass spectrometrymore » (PBMS), and neutron activation mass spectrometry (NAMS) offer new analytical prospects for difficult analytical problems and are on the horizon. Recent studies using tools such as fast atom bombardment (FAB), ion trap and ion cyclotron techniques, graphite furnace ionization, plasma and particle desorption, and even flame ionization serve to indicate the potential expansion of the field. 746 refs., 4 tabs.« less