Clinical Chemistry
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Clinical Chemistry 53: 111-116, 2007. First published November 9, 2006; 10.1373/clinchem.2007.072520
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
clinchem.2007.072520v1
53/1/111    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (8)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Baxter, D. C.
Right arrow Articles by Waara, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Baxter, D. C.
Right arrow Articles by Waara, H.
Related Collections
Right arrow General Clinical Chemistry
Right arrow Pediatric Clinical Chemistry
Right arrow Nutrition
Right arrow Drug Monitoring and Toxicology
Right arrow Automation and Analytical Techniques
(Clinical Chemistry. 2007;53:111-116.)
© 2007 American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Inc.

Automation and Analytical Techniques

Methylmercury Measurement in Whole Blood by Isotope-Dilution GC-ICPMS with 2 Sample Preparation Methods

Douglas C. Baxter1,a, Ilia Rodushkin1, Emma Engström2, Dennis Klockare1 and Hans Waara1

1 Analytica AB, Luleå, Sweden.
2 Division of Applied Geology, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.

aAddress correspondence to this author at: Analytica AB, Aurorum 10, S 977 75 Luleå, Sweden. Fax 46-920-289940; e-mail douglas.baxter{at}analytica.se.

Background: Despite its known toxicity, methylmercury is rarely measured directly in clinical studies; instead, conclusions are based on total mercury measurements. We have developed isotope–dilution-based methods for methylmercury-specific analysis of whole blood by coupled gas chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (GC-ICPMS).

Methods: We analyzed animal and human blood samples after alkaline digestion or extraction of methylmercury into dichloromethane and back extraction into water. Methylmercury was converted to the volatile ethyl derivative, purged, and trapped on a solid-phase collection medium, and then introduced into the GC-ICPMS system.

Results: Limits of quantification were 0.4 and 0.03 µg/L at a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 with the alkaline digestion and extraction methods, respectively. Extraction met our selected acceptable total error criterion, with an SD of 0.58 µg/L at the critical maternal blood concentration of 5.8 µg/L. Results obtained with alkaline digestion indicated the need for improved random analytical uncertainty, which was achieved by increasing the enrichment of the isotope dilution. For 37 blood samples, the mean (SD) proportion of total mercury present as methylmercury was 60 (27)%, range 6%–100%.

Conclusions: The combination of extraction and isotope-dilution GC-ICPMS meets the requirements for use as a reference method for measuring methylmercury in whole blood.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2007 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.