title: A simple method for methylmercury, inorganic mercury and ethylmercury determination in plasma samples by high performance liquid chromatography-cold-vapor-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
abstract: A simple and sensitive method with a fast sample preparation procedure is proposed for the determination of mercury species in plasma/serum. The method combines online high-performance liquid chromatography separation, Hg cold-vapor formation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection. Prior to analysis, plasma (250 μL) was accurately pipetted into 15 mL conical tubes. Then, an extractant solution containing mercaptoethanol, L-cysteine and HCl was added to the samples following sonication for 10 min. Quantitative mercury extraction was achieved with the proposed procedure. Separation of mercury species was accomplished in less than 8 min on a C8 reverse phase column with a mobile phase containing 3% v/v methanol + 97% v/v (0.5% v/v 2-mercaptoethanol + 0.05% v/v formic acid). The method detection limits were found to be 12 ng L(-1), 5 ng L(-1) and 4 ng L(-1) for inorganic mercury, ethylmercury and methylmercury, respectively. Method accuracy is traceable to Standard Reference Material (SRM) 966 Toxic Metals in Bovine Blood from NIST. Additional validation was provided by the analysis of a secondary reference serum sample from the INSQ-Canada. Finally, the method was successfully applied for the speciation of mercury in plasma samples collected from volunteers exposed to methylmercury through fish consumption. For the first time to our knowledge, levels of different species of Hg in plasma samples from riverside populations exposed to MeHg were determined.
authors: Laboratório de Toxicologia e Essencialidade de Metais, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors: Samuel S
authors: SS
authors: de Souza
authors: Andres Dobal
authors: AD
authors: Campiglia
authors: Fernando
authors: F
authors: Barbosa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005035:Ethylmercury Compounds / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000097:blood*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005035:Ethylmercury Compounds; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury