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. 2017 Sep 19;89(18):9633-9637.
doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b01868. Epub 2017 Aug 28.

Direct Speciation Analysis of Arsenic in Whole Blood and Blood Plasma at Low Exposure Levels by Hydride Generation-Cryotrapping-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Tomáš Matoušek  1 , Zhifeng Wang  2   3 , Christelle Douillet  2 , Stanislav Musil  1 , Miroslav Stýblo  2
Affiliations

Direct Speciation Analysis of Arsenic in Whole Blood and Blood Plasma at Low Exposure Levels by Hydride Generation-Cryotrapping-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Tomáš Matoušek et al. Anal Chem. .

Abstract

A method for analysis of toxicologically important arsenic species in blood plasma and whole blood by selective hydride generation with cryotrapping (HG-CT) coupled either to atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) with a quartz multiatomizer or to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) has been validated. Sample preparation, which involved only 5 times dilution with addition of Triton X-100, Antifoam B, and l-cysteine, suppressed excessive foaming in a hydride generator. Calibration slopes for whole blood and blood plasma spiked with arsenate, monomethylarsonate, and dimethylarsinate at 0.25-1 μg L-1 As and 0.025-0.1 μg L-1 As for AAS and ICPMS detection, respectively, did not differ from slopes in aqueous solutions. HG-CT-AAS was used to analyze samples with elevated levels of arsenic species-blood plasma from patients treated with arsenic trioxide for acute promyelocytic leukemia and whole blood from mice fed an arsenic-containing diet. A good agreement between results of the direct analysis and analysis after mild digestion in phosphoric acid proved the good efficiency of the direct HG-CT procedure for the arsenic species in these types of biological samples. In the next step, plasma and whole blood from healthy donors that were spiked with the plasma from leukemia patients at levels of 0.15-0.4 μg L-1 As were analyzed by direct HG-CT-ICPMS. Good recoveries for all species even at these low levels (88-104%) were obtained. Limits of detection in blood and plasma were 0.014 μg L-1 for inorganic arsenic and below 0.002 μg L-1 As for methylated arsenic species. Thus, the ultrasensitive direct HG-CT-ICPMS method is uniquely suited for analyses of blood plasma and whole blood from individuals at low exposure levels.

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Conflict of interest statement

Notes

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Typical signals obtained with HG-CT-ICPMS. Dotted line: blank; dashed line: mixed standard of iAs, MAs, and DMAs (0.025 μg L−1 As each); solid line: unspiked whole blood. 1: iAs; 2: MAs; 3: DMAs; 4: trimethylarsane.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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