title: Self-aliquoting micro-grooves in combination with laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry for the analysis of challenging liquids: quantification of lead in whole blood.
abstract: We present a technique for the fast screening of the lead concentration in whole blood samples using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The whole blood sample is deposited on a polymeric surface and wiped across a set of micro-grooves previously engraved into the surface. The engraving of the micro-grooves was accomplished with the same laser system used for LA-ICP-MS analysis. In each groove, a part of the liquid blood is trapped, and thus, the sample is divided into sub-aliquots. These aliquots dry quasi instantly and are then investigated by means of LA-ICP-MS. For quantification, external calibration against aqueous standard solutions was relied on, with iron as an internal standard to account for varying volumes of the sample aliquots. The (208)Pb/(57)Fe nuclide ratio used for quantification was obtained via a data treatment protocol so far only used in the context of isotope ratio determination involving transient signals. The method presented here was shown to provide reliable results for Recipe ClinChek® Whole Blood Control levels I-III (nos. 8840-8842), with a repeatability of typically 3 % relative standard deviation (n = 6, for Pb at 442 μg L(-1)). Spiked and non-spiked real whole blood was analysed as well, and the results were compared with those obtained via dilution and sectorfield ICP-MS. A good agreement between both methods was observed. The detection limit (3 s) for lead in whole blood was established to be 10 μg L(-1) for the laser ablation method presented here. Graphical Abstract Micro-grooves are filled with whole blood, dried, and analyzed by laser ablation ICP-mass spectrometry. Notice that the laser moves in perpendicular direction with regard to the micro-grooves.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, TU Wien, Getreidemarkt 9/164-IAC, 1060, Vienna, Austria.|Department of Analytical Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S12, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nischkauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S12, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vanhaecke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, TU Wien, Getreidemarkt 9/164-IAC, 1060, Vienna, Austria. Andreas.Limbeck@tuwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Limbeck
mesh_terms: D002138:Calibration; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007854:Lead
keywords: Dried-droplet laser ablation; Laser ablation-ICP-MS; Lead quantification; Transient signals; Whole blood analysis