Studies on some trace and minor elements in blood

Blood is one of the widely used specimens for biological trace element research because of its biological significance and ease of sampling. We have conducted a study of the blood of the Kalpakkam township population for trace and minor elements. For this purpose, analytical methods have been developed and standardized in our laboratory for the elemental analysis of blood plasma and red cells. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), a relatively new technique, has been applied for the analysis of trace elements. Details regarding spectral interference and matrix interference encountered in the analysis of blood and the methods of correcting them have been discussed. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS)/atomic emission spectrometry (AES) has been applied for the determination of minor elements. Precision and accuracy of these methods have also been discussed.     

Determination of trace elements in some natural drugs by atomic absorption spectrometry

Fifteen kinds of common plants, animals, and minerals used as traditional medicines by the Chinese people have been subjected to analysis by atomic absorption spectrometry for its content of seven metals: lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, copper, cobalt, and manganese. The concentrations of these elements are significantly different according to their vegetal, animal, or mineral origin. The average values found for lead, cadmium, arsenic, cobalt, and manganese in drugs of mineral origin are higher than those derived from plants and animals, except for copper, which was higher in drugs of animal origin. Our results suggest that the user of traditional Chinese crude drugs should be warned of the potential danger of heavy-metal poisoning because their concentrations seem to be higher than the maximum values allowed by health agencies in several countries.     

Variability of selected trace elements of different meat cuts determined by ICP-MS and DRC-ICPMS

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of cadmium, lead, iron, zinc, selenium, manganese, copper and molybdenum in different cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken and foal collected from supermarkets and butcheries in Switzerland. The concentrations of manganese, copper, molybdenum, zinc, iron, selenium, cadmium and lead were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after microwave digestion. Mean values and their respective coefficients of variation were calculated from the measured concentrations. The concentrations found for cadmium and lead ranged from 0.6 to 3.9 μg/100 g and 1.0 to 2.1 μg/100 g, respectively. Concentrations ranged between 0.5 and 3.3 mg/100 g for iron, 0.7 and 5.1 mg/100 g for zinc, 9 and 44 μg/100 g for selenium, 3.1 and 16.7 μg/100 g for manganese, 0.3 and 132 μg/100 g for copper and 0.9 and 3.2 μg/100 g for molybdenum. Differences found for the concentrations in meat from different species as well as between the individual meat cuts were notable for iron, zinc, selenium and copper. Manganese concentrations were found to vary unsystematically within muscles and species. Molybdenum concentrations were higher in chicken meat in comparison with the mammalian meats. The highest coefficients of variation were found for manganese (13% to 142%) and copper (13% to 224%), while the lowest was found for zinc (4% to 45%). In conclusion, in order to provide an accurate overview and to be able to calculate reliable dietary intakes, it is important to include the variability in food composition data.     

Distribution of trace elements within bones in nasal cavity and labyrinth in humans

Measurements of trace element concentrations within bones in nasal cavity and labyrinth have shown large variations, both with a single bone and between different bones of a same individual. Factors that influence trace element levels include: metabolic activity, environmental effects, sex, and age. Detection of characteristic X-rays has been shown to be a convenient method for the measurement of concentration profiles, micropixe for micrometer variations, and X-ray centration profiles, micropixe for micrometer variations, and X-ray fluorescence for millimeter variations.     

Concentrations of trace elements in osteoarthritic knee-joint effusions

Concentrations of the 18 elements, barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), bismuth (Bi), calcium (Ca), cadmium (Cd), cesium (Cs), copper (Cu), lanthanum (La), lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg), molybdenum (Mo), lead (Pb), rubidium (Rb), antimony (Sb), tin (Sn), strontium (Sr), thallium (Tl), and zinc (Zn), were determined in the synovial fluids of osteoarthritic knee joints and in the corresponding sera of 16 patients by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Knee-joint effusions have lower elemental concentrations than their corresponding sera. For the essential elements Ca, Cu, Mg, and Zn and for the nonessential and toxic elements Ba, Be, Bi, La, and Sb, this difference was highly significant. Strong positive correlations between concentrations in effusions and sera for the essential elements Cu and Mg and for the nonessential elements Cs, Li, Rb, and Sr could be established. The grade of localized hyperperfusion of the knee region in the blood pool phase of ^99mTc HDP bone scan indicating inflammation did not correlate with any elemental concentration determined. Deceased.     

Microwave-assisted acid extraction methodology for trace elements determination in mastic gum of Pistacia lentiscus using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Introduction – To ensure food safety, accurate knowledge of the levels of several trace elements is necessary. This is also true for natural products of plants and resins used for human consumption or therapeutic treatment, like the mastic gum of Pistacia lentiscus. The rapid analysis of gum and resin matrices is a challenge because there are problems with the decomposition of such complicated matrices. Objective – To develop an efficient multielemental analytical method for the determination of trace elements and to compare different procedures for analyte extraction when microwave‐assisted digestion is applied. Methodology – The inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric (ICP‐AES) technique was applied and the optimum ICP conditions like radiofrequency power, argon flow rate and nebuliser sample uptake flowrate were found. The microwave‐assisted procedure was compared with that with conventional heating. Since mastic and resinous materials are difficult for dissolution and extraction of trace element, influential acid mixtures containing hydrofluoric acid proved to be capable of quantitative extraction of the analytes. Results – The digestion of mastic resin or similar matrices is significantly facilitated by using microwave radiation instead of conventional heating since the obtained recovery for several analytes is much higher. It was proved that the acid mixture of HCl–HNO₃–HF was the most efficient for complete sample digestion and recovery of the analytes. Conclusions The performance characteristics of the developed method were evaluated against certified reference material and the method was proved reliable and applicable to the analysis of mastic gum and possibly to similar resinous matrices. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中药及其水煎液中微量元素含量研究

采用火焰原子吸收光谱法(flame atomic absorption spectrometry,FAAS)测定了黄芪、白术、防风及玉屏风散各次水煎液中铁、铜、锰、铅4种微量元素的含量。结果表明,中药各次水煎液中微量元素的浸出率各不相同,应合理用药,以更好地发挥中药的疗效。     

Differentiation of serum levels of trace elements in normal and malignant breast patients

The objective of this study was to determine which elements in serum best differentiated breast cancer in a case-control study. Concentrations of 13 elements in serum of 68 breast tumor patients (25 malignant and 43 benign) and 26 healthy controls were measured. Logistic regression with different variable-selection procedures was used to determine a possible configuration of elements. Sensitivity and specificity of the model were calculated to obtain the optimal cutoff point for discriminating malignant breast cancers vs other individuals (including benign breast disease and normal ones). A combination of Cd, Mn, and Fe was found to have a specificity and sensitivity of 100% using forward-type logistic regression, when the cutoff value of the combination score was 52.71. Using stepwise-type logistic regression, a combination of Cr and Mn had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 97.1% when the combination score of 17.4 was chosen as the cutoff. Similar analysis could be implemented to compare the malignant and control groups. Specificity and sensitivity were 100% for Mn (forward and stepwise type) with a cutoff point of 6.40. For the backward regression, specificity was 84.6% and sensitivity was 100% for Zn, with a cutoff point of 869.1. In conclusion, there was a significant difference in concentrations of all 13 elements in serum between breast cancer patients and controls. A combination among Cd, Mn, Fe, Cr, and Zn might be important to determine a differentiating reference for breast cancers if a long-term followed-up study is to be conducted.     

Role of trace elements in primary arterial hypertension

A negative relationship between water hardness and cardiovascular mortality rate was demonstrated and became a source of interest regarding minerals and trace metals in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, and arterial hypertension. Higher incidences of sudden death, cerebrovascular diseases, arterial hypertension, and coronary heart disease have been reported in soft water areas. A major research effort has been devoted to the problem in an attempt to find a protective factor in hard water or a detrimental factor or element in soft water. The roles of calcium, magnesium, cobalt, lithium, vanadium, silicon, manganese, and copper have been considered potentially beneficial, whereas those of cadmium, lead, silver, zinc, and antimony have been considered potentially harmful. Cobalt and zinc have been attributed both roles. In the present article, the role of trace quantities of several elements in mineral water in the etiopathogenesis of primary arterial hypertension is reviewed. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Multianalysis of trace elements in mosses with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

As a part of an air-pollution biomonitoring survey, a procedure using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and microwave digestion was developed to achieve a high sample throughput and guarantee the accuracy of the results. This article presents an analytical method to measure 22 trace elements. As, Ba, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Hg, La, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sr, Th, Tl, U, V, W were analyzed in 563 mosses collected in France. The digestion was performed in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vessel using the mixture HNO₃-H₂O₂-HF. The data were reprocessed taking into account the drift curve calculated for each element. The detection limits (DL) calculation was based on the standard deviations of the reagent blanks concentrations. The DL varied from one batch to another, because of the heterogeneity of the mosses’ elemental contents. The DL ranged between 0.001 μg/g (Cs, Tl) and 70 μg/g (Fe) and were mainly around 0.01 μg/g (As, Cd, Ce, Co, Hg, La, Mo, Sb, Sr, U, V, W). The detection limits obtained were in agreement with the concentrations observed in the samples, except for Hg and Ni. The reproducibility between duplicates and the analytical precision were near 10%. The procedure was tested with the mosses’ reference materials.     

Indication of silicon essentiality in humans

Serum silicon concentrations were determined in Belgian healthy children and adults, including pregnant women, by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Serum levels appeared to be significantly higher in healthy children (1–18 yr) than in healthy adults (19–60 yr). Especially, levels in infants (<1 yr) were higher than in any other group. Compared to age-matched nonpregnants, the serum silicon content was very low in pregnant women. In addition to the fact that this study for the first time provides serum silicon values in adults and children in Belgium, the most important observation is that these serum profiles might be an indication of silicon essentiality in man.     

The aluminum content in some patch test allergens

The Al content of 18 patch test allergens were measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry. It was found that these preparations contained Al in various amounts. We conclude that the presence of Al in patch test allergens may interfere with the diagnosis and evaluations of patients to whom the test is applied.     

INAA of trace elements in colorectal cancer patients

The concentration of trace elements in samples of both colorectal cancer tumors and normal tissues of a Mexican population were irradiated for 30 s and 4 h and their elemental content were measured by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Ca, Cu, Co, I, Mg, Se, Fe, Zn, Hg, Ba, and Cr were analyzed. Alterations in Co, Fe, I, and Ba were found in tumors with respect to normal tissues.     

Reference values for trace and ultratrace elements in human serum determined by double-focusing ICP-MS

Reference values for trace and ultratrace elements concentrations in healthy human serum, measured by double-focusing inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), are presented. Blood donors from Asturias (Spain) were selected as the reference population (n=59). Blood samples were collected, after donation, taking the necessary precautions to avoid contamination. All subjects analyzed had normal renal function and nutritional status, as shown from their creatinine and albumin levels. A total number of 14 elements (Al, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cd, Pb, and U) were monitored almost simultaneously. Serum samples were diluted 1+4 with ultrapure water and matrix interferences were corrected using Sc, Ga, Y, and Tl as internal standards. Fe, Cu, and Zn were also determined by isotope dilution analysis (IDA). Reference trace element concentrations intervals observed containing 95% of the reference distribution after excluding outliers are presented. Fourteen serum samples from hemodialysis patients were also analyzed for comparison. High levels of Al, Cr, Sr, Mo, Mn, Pb, U, Co, and Cu and low levels of Fe, Zn, and Rb were found in the serum samples from hemodialysis patients compared to the corresponding reference values observed in this work.     

Survey of chemical speciation of trace elements using synchrotron radiation

Information concerning the chemical state of trace elements in biological systems generally has not been available. Such information for toxic elements and metals in metalloproteins could prove extremely valuable in the elucidation of their metabolism and other biological processes. The shielding of core electrons by binding electrons affect the energy required for creating inner-shell holes. Furthermore, the molecular binding and symmetry of the local environment of an atom affect the absorption spectrum in the neighborhood of the absorption edge. X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) using synchrotron radiation excitation can be used to provide chemical speciation information for trace elements at concentrations as low as 10 ppm. The structure and position of the absorption curve in the region of an edge can yield vital data about the local structure and oxidation state of the trace element in question. Data are most easily interpreted by comparing the observed edge structure and position with those of model compounds of the element covering the entire range of possible oxidation states. Examples of such analyses will be reviewed.     

Serum concentrations of macro and trace elements in heroin addicts of the Canary islands

Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Cu, Zn and Se concentrations were determined in the serum of 106 heroin addicts and were compared with the concentrations obtained in a control group formed of 186 apparently healthy individuals. Heroin addicts displayed K and Se mean concentrations lower (p < 0.05), and Na, Mg, P mean concentrations and a Cu/Zn ratio higher (p < 0.05) than those mean values observed in the control group. The Mg and P concentrations in the serum of heroin addicts tended to normalize when age increased. The heroin addicts included in the methadone maintenance treatment program had higher serum mean concentrations of K and Mg than the heroin addicts in the detoxification process. The Na, K and Mg concentrations displayed highly significant correlations, with a different behavior for the heroin addicts group and the control group. When applying factor analysis and representing the scores of the first and second factors, the heroin addicts tended to differentiation from the control group. However, methadone substitution treatment was not able to normalize these concentrations.     

Determination of urinary arsenic, mercury, and selenium in steel production workers

The fumes and dust of trace elements and their compounds are very toxic and have been related to an increase in the incidence of diseases. Occupational exposure to toxic metals and metalloids can be determined by means of workplace air measurements and biological monitoring. The aim of our investigation was to determine the concentrations of As, Hg, and Se in urine samples under routine clinical laboratory conditions. To assess the reliability of these methods, critical factors such as detection limit(s), calibration range(s), cost, accuracy, and precision were studied. The method was employed for the quantitative determination of arsenic, mercury, and selenium in urine samples from steel production and quality control workers and healthy unexposed controls. After pretreatment with acids, the samples were digested by means of a microwave oven. Arsenic was determined by hydride atomic absorption spectrometry and mercury was determined by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry, whereas selenium was determined by a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The results indicate those urinary arsenic, mercury, and selenium levels of the exposed workers are significantly higher than those of the controls. The possibility that these elements are involved in the etiology of diseases is discussed and recommendations are made to improve workplace ventilation and industrial hygiene practices.     

Determination of urinary beryllium,arsenic, and selenium in steel production workers

Some of the most pernicious dangers of pollution arise from the presence of traces of toxic elements in the environment. In this work, we report on the determination of beryllium, arsenic, and selenium in the urine of steel production and steel quality control (QC) workers, in comparison to healthy control subjects. The urine samples were digested by a microwave system. Graphite furnace and hydride atomic absorption was used for the quantitative measurements of Be and As and Se, respectively. A quality control method for these procedures was established with concurrent analysis of Standard Trace Metals 7879 Level II and NIST SRM 2670 (Toxic Elements in Freeze Dried Urine). The results show that the urinary levels of these elements in steel production (As, 38.1±28.7 μg/L; Be, 1.58±0.46 μg/L, and Se, 69.2±28.8μg/L) and in quality control workers (As, 23.9±18.1 μg/L; Be, 1.58±0.46 μg/L, and Se, 54.8±25.1 μg/L) are significantly higher than in the controls (As, 10.3±8.7 μg/L; Be, 0.83±0.46 μg/L; and Se, 32.3±13.5 μg/L). The possible connection of these elements with the etiology of disease and the possible role of selenium as a protective agent against the oncogenic and teratogenic action of other substances is discussed. We suggest the need for improvement of environmental conditions in the workplace through better ventilation and industrial hygiene practices.     

Rapid and simple determination of selenium and other trace elements in very small blood samples by XRF

Selenium and other trace elements (Cu, Zn, Br, and Rb) were determined in very small (0.75 μL) human serum and mice whole blood samples, by an XRF method. Accurate results of elemental concentration were obtained without the need of exact volume measurement, because of the backscatter correction used. The XRF method is highly sensitive (M.D.L.=0.06, 0.13, 0.09, 0.07, and 0.05 ppm for Se, Cu, Zn, Br, and Rb, respectively), rapid (counting time—100 s/sample), easy to perform and therefore suitable for routine trace element analyses. The results obtained are in good agreement with the values reported in the literature.     

微波消解－火焰原子吸收光谱法测定蜂胶中金属元素含量

目的：测定一种原产地为加拿大的蜂胶中金属元素的含量,为进一步研究蜂胶营养价值提供数据,同时改进测量方法。方法：用微波消解法处理样品,用硝酸和过氧化氢的混合物作为消解剂进行微波消解,并优化消解条件,然后用火焰原子吸收光谱法测定蜂胶制品中钙、铁、镁、锌、钠、钾、铜的含量。结果：七种元素相对标准偏差为O．85％～2．33％（n=7）,回收率在96．5％～104．7％之间。试验结果表明该蜂胶中含有丰富的金属元素,且与河南产蜂胶相比,加拿大产蜂胶中多种金属元素含量远低于河南产蜂胶。结论：使用本文方法测定蜂胶中的金属元素含量,结果准确,方法可靠。为进一步探讨蜂胶制品金属元素与其保健功能的关系提供了有用数据。