The Ultrasonic Nebulizer (USN) is ideal for the trace level determinations required in a wide range of environmental applications. It provides a 5 to 50 fold enhancement in performance compared to a pneumatic type nebulizer. The USN complements the Agilent SPS 3 autosampler to produce a fully-automated ultra-trace analysis package. Capable of running up to 500 low concentration, multi-element samples, the system can operate completely unattended. The elimination of sample pre-concentration, solvent extraction or ion exchange techniques for environmental samples significantly increases productivity.