title: Long-Term Stability of Inorganic, Methyl and Ethyl Mercury in Whole Blood: Effects of Storage Temperature and Time.
abstract: In this study, we evaluated the effect of temperature on the long-term stability of three mercury species in bovine blood. We used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis to determine the concentrations of inorganic (iHg), methyl (MeHg) and ethyl (EtHg) mercury species in two blood pools stored at temperatures of -70, -20, 4, 23°C (room temperature) and 37°C. Over the course of a year, we analyzed aliquots of pooled specimens at time intervals of 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months. We applied a fixed-effects linear model, step-down pairwise comparison and coefficient of variation statistical analysis to examine the temperature and time effects on changes in mercury species concentrations. We observed several instances of statistically significant differences in mercury species concentrations between different temperatures and time points; however, with considerations of experimental factors (such as instrumental drift and sample preparation procedures), not all differences were scientifically important. We concluded that iHg, MeHg and EtHg species in bovine whole blood were stable at -70, -20, 4 and 23°C for 1 year, but blood samples stored at 37°C were stable for no more than 2 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Inorganic and Radiation Analytical Toxicology Branch, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F-50, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA ysommer@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Yuliya L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Inorganic and Radiation Analytical Toxicology Branch, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F-50, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Inorganic and Radiation Analytical Toxicology Branch, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F-50, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Inorganic and Radiation Analytical Toxicology Branch, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F-50, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Inorganic and Radiation Analytical Toxicology Branch, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F-50, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D004355:Drug Stability; D004356:Drug Storage; D005035:Ethylmercury Compounds / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005035:Ethylmercury Compounds; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury