Development of an Analytical Protocol for Determination of Cyanide in Human Biological Samples Based on Application of Ion Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection.

Ewa Jaszczak,Marek Ruman,Żaneta Polkowska,Sylwia Narkowicz,Jacek Namieśnik

doi:10.1155/2017/7157953

Abstract

A simple and accurate ion chromatography (IC) method with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) was proposed for the determination of cyanide ion in urine, sweat, and saliva samples. The sample pretreatment relies on alkaline digestion and application of Dionex OnGuard II H cartridge. Under the optimized conditions, the method showed good linearity in the range of 1–100 μg/L for urine, 5–100 μg/L for saliva, and 3–100 μg/L for sweat samples with determination coefficients (R) > 0.992. Low detection limits (LODs) in the range of 1.8 μg/L, 5.1 μg/L, and 5.8 μg/L for urine, saliva, and sweat samples, respectively, and good repeatability (CV < 3%, n = 3) were obtained. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of human biological samples.

Highlights

IntroductionToxic substances, such as cyanide ions, are present in the environment as soluble salts (e.g., sodium salt) and insoluble compounds (e.g., mercury) [1]
Toxic substances, such as cyanide ions, are present in the environment as soluble salts and insoluble compounds [1]
A small amount of cyanide ions links with cysteine and creates 2-iminotiazolidyno-4-carboxylic acid [3]

Summary

Introduction

Toxic substances, such as cyanide ions, are present in the environment as soluble salts (e.g., sodium salt) and insoluble compounds (e.g., mercury) [1] They can be metabolized and excreted from the body with biological fluids in their unchanged form or as metabolites. Much of the cyanide, which is absorbed into the body through the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and skin, is detoxified in the liver due to the thiosulfate sulfotransferase enzyme present in the mitochondria of the liver. This reaction transforms cyanide into the 200-fold less toxic thiocyanate, which is soluble in water and excreted from the organism together with body fluids. A small amount of cyanide ions links with cysteine and creates 2-iminotiazolidyno-4-carboxylic acid [3]

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion