A study of the effects of various parameters on analyte ion signals in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was carried out using a SCIEX ELAN. The ICP parameters investigated included plasma power, nebuliser flow-rate and sampling depth. The elements investigated, covering a range of masses, responded in a similar manner. This behaviour makes the choice of compromise operating conditions for these parameters fairly easy. The effects of the ion-lens voltages on analyte signal were also studied. Compromise operating conditions of these voltage settings proved more difficult especially when maximum sensitivity is required. Different lens settings, for smaller relative atomic mass ranges, may be required in some work.