Abstract:

Objective To study the feasibility of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for whole blood mercury determination.Methods Using hydrochloric acid as sample matrix, samples were digested with microwave digestion instrument, and ICP-MS was used to determine mercury in whole blood. The lowest detection limit,functional sensitivity, range, recovery, accuracy and precision of ICP-MS were evaluated. Results The detection limit of this method was 4.525×10^-2 ng/mL, the functional sensitivity was 1.495 ng/mL, the analytical measurement range was 0.18-13.83 ng/mL, and the recovery rate was 92%-103%. The average values of low-level [(20±5) ng/mL ]and high-level [(50± 8)ng/mL] quality control materials for 20 d were 22.22 ng/mL and 51.39 ng/mL, and between-run precisions were 6% and 5%. Clinical random mixed whole blood, low and high whole blood quality control materials for 20 parts each were detected within 1 d, and the within-run precisions were 4.8%, 4.8% and 4.4%. Conclusions ICP-MS for the determination of whole blood mercury meets the clinical requirements.

Key words: Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, Mercury, Whole blood