Direct Determination of Lead in Whole Blood Using Electrothermal Vaporization Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

A carbon rod atomizer was used for sample introduction into a commercial inductively coupled plasma for the determination of lead in whole blood. Samples of known lead concentration were either treated with Triton-X or nitric acid or diluted 1+5 with distilled water and analyzed by comparison against graphs obtained using aqueous solutions and using the standard additions method. Both approaches produced similar results indicating no appreciable matrix influence. The Pb concentration values obtained were in close agreement with those previously determined by ETA-AAS, Delves′ cup-FAAS and anodic stripping voltammetry. Signal integration and careful selection of the measurement period were critical to obtain accurate results. Derived concentrations were shown to be essentially independent of the heating rate of the vaporization unit and the length of tubing used to transport the material into the plasma. Using a 1 μg ml⁻¹ lead aqueous standard, a signal to background ratio of 5.5 was obtained under optimized conditions. Relative standard deviations of the blank and the analytical signal were 0.2 and 1.8%., respectively. An aqueous solution detection limit of 0.007 μg ml⁻¹ was calculated for lead.

Key Words:

• electrothermal vaporization
• inductively coupled plasma
• lead
• whole blood