title: A new method for quasi-reagent-free biomonitoring of mercury in human urine.
abstract: A novel analytical method for sampling and extraction of mercury (Hg) from human urine is presented in this work. The method is based on selective accumulation and separation of Hg from fresh urine sample onto active nanogold-coated silica material by highly efficient solid-phase extraction. After thermal desorption of Hg from the extractant, detection is performed by atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). The feasibility and validity of the optimized, quasi-reagent-free approach was confirmed by recovery experiments in spiked real urine (recovery rate 96.13 ± 5.34%) and by comparison of found Hg concentrations in real urine samples - originating from occupationally exposed persons - with values obtained from reference methods cold vapor - atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) and cold vapor - atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS). A very good agreement of the found values reveals the validity of the proposed approach. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be as low as 0.004 μg Hg L-1and a high reproducibility with a relative standard deviations ≤4.2% (n = 6) is given. Moreover, storage of the samples for up to one week at an ambient temperature of 30 °C reveals no analyte losses or contamination. In conclusion, the proposed method enables easy-to-handle on-site extraction of total Hg from human urine ensuring at the same time reagent-free sample stabilization, providing quick and safe sampling, which can be performed by untrained persons.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schlathauer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reitsam
authors.affiliation: Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schierl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: kerstin.leopold@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leopold
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006046:Gold; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000652:urine*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D006046:Gold; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Atomic fluorescence spectrometry; Human urine; Mercury biomonitoring; Nanogold-coated silica; Reagent-free determination; Selective solid phase extraction