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ABSTRACT
Deproteinization of serum was performed by microwave irradiation combined with a small volume of diluted trichloracetic acid. The procedure reduced the protein level of the samples to less than 99% of the total with a small dilution factor (1+1) and allowed the determination of nickel and manganese by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and copper and zinc by flame atomic absorption spectrometry directly without modifiers or matrix interferences. As metallic ions are normally bonded to serum proteins they must be released during protein precipitation. Spiked serum samples were submitted, before the deproteinization, to an incubation treatment to bond the added ions to the proteins. To check the efficiency of the incubation time for each ion, serum samples were ultrafiltered at set time intervals and the metals determined in the ultrafiltrate. The proposed method was compared with the common deproteinization by acids for the separation of the proteins. The reduction of proteins allowed a small dilution of the sample and the use of faster temperature programmes for the determination of nickel and manganese by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and the aspiration of samples more similar to aqueous standards for copper and zinc determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Recoveries from spiked, incubated and deproteinized samples compared to only diluted samples show that the method can satisfactorily be used for atomic absorption spectrometric determination of these elements.