Application of Isotopically Labeled Methylmercury for Isotope Dilution Analysis of Biological Samples Using Gas Chromatography/ICPMS
An isotope dilution (ID) procedure for the determination of methylmercury (MMHg) in biological samples using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer as detector after the capillary gas chromatographic separation (CGC/ICPMS) has been developed. For the first time, open-focused-microwave pretr...
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Published in | Analytical chemistry (Washington) Vol. 74; no. 11; pp. 2505 - 2512 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Washington, DC
American Chemical Society
01.06.2002
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | An isotope dilution (ID) procedure for the determination of methylmercury (MMHg) in biological samples using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer as detector after the capillary gas chromatographic separation (CGC/ICPMS) has been developed. For the first time, open-focused-microwave pretreatment has been used in conjunction with ID. Optimum conditions for the measurement of isotope ratios on the fast transient chromatographic peaks have been established. Mass bias was found to be about 1.5%/mass unit and was corrected by using the simultaneously measured thallium signals at 203Tl and 205Tl. After mass-bias correction, deviation of the theoretical mercury ratio values was found to be as low as 0.2%. Isotope ratio precisions based on the peak areas measurements were 0.3% RSD for 20 pg injected (as Hg absolute). The absolute detection limits were in the range of 20−30 fg for 202Hg and 201Hg. Methylmercury enriched in 201Hg has been synthesized by direct reaction with methylcobalamine. The concentration of the MMHg spike has been measured by reverse isotope dilution with a natural MMHg standard. The capabilities of CGC/ICPMS to measure isotope ratios were used to optimize sample derivatization by aqueous ethylation with NaBEt4 with respect to MMHg degradation pathways and quantitative recovery. The accuracy of the method developed has been validated with biological certified reference materials (CRM-463, DORM-1). |
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Bibliography: | istex:FB9649892E966E4811FB07E341A59F8F4A522BC2 ark:/67375/TPS-60N0VGL0-Z ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0003-2700 1520-6882 |
DOI: | 10.1021/ac011157s |