A Simple Method Based on ICP-MS for Estimation of Background Levels of Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Manganese, Nickel, Lead, and Selenium in Blood of the Brazilian Population

Abstract

Throughout the world, biomonitoring has become the standard for assessing exposure of individuals to toxic elements as well as for responding to serious environmental public health problems. However, extensive biomonitoring surveys require rapid and simple analytical methods. Thus, a simple and high-throughput method is proposed for the determination of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and selenium (Se) in blood samples by using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Prior to analysis, 200 microl of blood samples was mixed with 500 microl of 10% v/v tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution, incubated for 10 min, and subsequently diluted to 10 ml with a solution containing 0.05% w/v ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) + 0.005% v/v Triton X-100. After that, samples were directly analyzed by ICP-MS (ELAN DRC II). Rhodium was selected as an internal standard with matrix-matching calibration. Method detection limits were 0.08, 0.04, 0.5, 0.09, 0.12, 0.04, and 0.1 microg//L for As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Se, respectively. Validation data are provided based on the analysis of blood samples from the trace elements inter-\comparison program operated by the Institut National de Sante Publique du Quebec, Canada. Additional validation was provided by the analysis of human blood samples by the proposed method and by using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The method was subsequently applied for the estimation of background metal blood values in the Brazilian population. In general, the mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Se in blood were 1.1, 0.4, 890, 9.6, 2.1, 65.4, and 89.3 microg/L, respectively, and are in agreement with other global populations. Influences of age, gender, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, and geographical variation on the values were also considered. Smoking habits influenced the levels of Cd in blood. The levels of Cu, Mn, and Pb were significantly correlated with gender, whereas Cu and Pb were significantly correlated with age. There were also interesting differences in Mn and Se levels in the population living in the north of Brazil compared to the south.

Detection of trace levels of lead in aqueous liquids using extractive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

“…S4 showed a typical calibration curve for ICP-MS to measure lead in Coca-Cola, with a linear dynamic range of four orders of magnitude. Similar to EESI-MS n , the LODs for ICP-MS to measure lead in different samples were generally at the level of ppt or less, which fits well with previous studies [31,35,[65][66][67]. However, during ICP analysis, analytes, no matter whether they are organic or inorganic species, are usually broken down to elemental atoms for further mass spectrometric analysis or spectroscopic measurement.…”

“…ICP-MS can be used to analyze metal compounds, but usually after extensive sample pretreatment [31,33]. Since ICP-MS is a classic method to detect lead [31,35,[65][66][67], we also performed quantitative analysis of lead in various samples using ICP-MS. It was found that the performance of EESI-MS n was comparable to that of ICP-MS for lead detection in samples with complex matrices.…”

“…Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been widely used to detect lead in biological fluids, tissues, environmental samples, and oils [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. However, most traditional analytical techniques do not allow direct analysis of lead especially in complex media.…”

“One-drop-of-blood” electroanalysis of lead levels in blood using a foam-like mesoporous polymer of melamine–formaldehyde and disposable screen-printed electrodes

“…To date, many detection methods have been applied for detecting blood lead ions, and most are based on atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) 5 and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. [6][7][8] However, these sensitive methods generally require expensive instruments, professional skill and complicated sample pretreatment, which may be limiting for the insite evaluation or monitoring of lead poisoning. Therefore, developing a simple, fast, sensitive, selective and field-deployable detection method for probing blood lead levels has become an interesting and attractive target to pursue.…”

Evaluation of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for determining Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Se and Zn in bovine semen samples using a simple sample dilution method

“…1,6 The analysis of trace elements in biological samples is predominantly performed using atomic spectrometry techniques, such as atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) 24 and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). [25][26][27][28][29] ICP-MS offers several advantages, including simultaneous multielement measurement capability coupled with very low limits of detection, a wider linear dynamic range, allowing the determination of major and trace elements at the same sample injection and isotopic information.…”