Preparation of hair for measurement of elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Abstract

The preparation of hair for the determination of elements is a critical component of the analysis procedure. Open-beaker, closed-vessel microwave, and flowthrough microwave digestion are methods that have been used for sample preparation and are discussed. A new digestion method for use with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been developed. The method uses 0.2 g of hair and 3 mL of concentrated nitric acid in an atmospheric pressure-low-temperature microwave digestion (APLTMD) system. This preparation method is useful in handling a large numbers of samples per day and may be adapted to hair sample weights ranging from 0.08 to 0.3 g. After digestion, samples are analyzed by ICP-MS to determine the concentration of Li, Be, B, Na, Mg, Al, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Pd, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U. Benefits of the APLTMD include reduced contamination and sample handling, and increased precision, reliability, and sample throughput.

Concentrations of Toxic Metals and Essential Minerals in the Mane Hair of Healthy Racing Horses and Their Relation to Age.

“…Therefore the levels of some trace elements are related to animal systemic levels. Various specimens, such as blood [5][6][7]13] or hair [2][3][4]9], may be used to assess the trace element status in man and animals. The concentrations of trace elements are higher in hair than in other body organs and fluids, and sampling and storage of hair are easier than those of other biological materials [4].…”

“…Hair specimens collected were a total 1.0 g of mane hair from the nape area nearest to the skin. The hair specimens were further cut and washed by the modified methods of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [2,3,9]. The hair was first cut into 0.3 cm pieces and mixed to allow a representative subsampling of the hair specimen.…”

“…Open-beaker digestion method for the hair was used to prepare samples for analysis by ICP-AES, which resulted in a complete digestion. The digestion method used was simple: with the following inexpensive equipment [9]. Five hundred mg of each washed hair sample was accurately weighed into 10 ml quartz beakers, and then 2 ml of concentrated trace-metal grade nitric acid (Wako Pure Chemical Industries Ltd., Osaka) was added.…”

Reduced Exposure to Mercury in Patients Receiving Enteral Nutrition

“…Three-centimeter hair specimens, including the roots, were taken from the occipital scalp of the subjects using stainless steel scissors, and 100 mg of each specimen were measured. The hair was washed using a modified method described elsewhere (Puchyr et al 1998;Yasuda et al 2005). First, the hair was washed with acetone, then with 0.01% Triton-X 100 (ICN Biomedicals, Costa Mesa, CA, USA), and finally with ultrapure water (> 18 MΩ/cm, Milli-Q water; Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA).…”

Comparison of Selenium Determination in Liver Samples by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry

“…68 However, limited reports confirm that detection of Se by ICP-MS in biological samples such as hair, bone, brain, heart, liver, serum, plasma, and muscle is possible with detection limits as low as 0.09 g/liter in serum and 0.8 g/g in hair. 6,[21][22][23]31,37,49,58 A number of Se method comparison studies have been reported including measuring serum Se by HG-AAS and GFAAS, 53 analysis of dietary supplements by ETAAS and HG-AAS, 71 analysis of foods such as eggs, bread, milk, and bovine liver by ETAAS and HG-AAS, 48 and comparison of FL with HG-AAS, flow injection AAS, and HG with molecular emission cavity detection for determination of Se in standard reference materials (SRM) of bovine liver and albacore tuna. 7 To the authors' knowledge, no study has been reported that directly compares HG-AAS and ICP-MS for the detection of Se in tissues.…”