Simultaneous analysis of mercury and selenium species including chiral forms of selenomethionine in human urine and serum by HPLC column-switching coupled to ICP-MS.
The simultaneous speciation of elements is of great concern, especially in the study of the interactions of species in living organisms. Here we report a method based on the coupling of HPLC-ICP-MS that is capable of separating and analyzing different selenium and mercury species (Se-methylselenocysteine, selenite, selenate, L-selenomethionine, D-selenomethionine, methylmercury and inorganic mercury). The proposed method uses two different mobile phases that are suitable for selenium and mercury speciation and leads to a successful determination of all the species in less than 27 min with good efficiency and resolution. The method was efficiently applied for simultaneous speciation of mercury and selenium in urine and in serum, the latter from umbilical cord samples. Selenocystine has been successfully identified in the former sample. Detection limits obtained were between 0.30 and 2.46 ng. Recovery studies of samples spiked with all species were performed to check the reliability of the method, and satisfactory recoveries (93-110%) were obtained in all cases. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for species with ten replicate determinations of 80 μg L(-1) were between 4.5 and 9.2%. The proposed method offers a deeper insight into selenium and mercury interactions in the human body.
Moreno
F
F
Departamento de Química y Ciencia de los Materiales, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, Campus de El Carmen, 21007 Huelva, Spain.
García-Barrera
T
T
Gómez-Ariza
J L
JL
D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D003545:Cysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D003553:Cystine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D016566:Organoselenium Compounds / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D064586:Selenic Acid; D012643:Selenium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D018036:Selenium Compounds / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D017279:Selenocysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D012645:Selenomethionine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D018038:Sodium Selenite / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D013237:Stereoisomerism
D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D016566:Organoselenium Compounds; D018036:Selenium Compounds; D017279:Selenocysteine; C009226:selenocystine; D003553:Cystine; D012645:Selenomethionine; D008628:Mercury; D012643:Selenium; D018038:Sodium Selenite; D064586:Selenic Acid; D003545:Cysteine; C002979:selenomethylselenocysteine