Direct determination of arsenic in blood serum by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

A method for the direct determination of arsenic in human blood serum is described. To suppress loss of arsenic by volatilization anal to remove chemical interferences in graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, the formation of involatile compounds with graphite, or with a matrix modifier is tested. With aqueous solutions, two sorts of interactions between graphite and arsenic are shown. But, in presence of serum, these interactions do not occur, Among 18 matrix modifiers tested, nickel gives the best sensitivity when used at high concentrations in the presence of Triton X-100. The proposed method allows direct arsenic determination, based on calibration with aqueous solutions. The method is applied to the serum of 20 normal subjects. The limit of detection is 0.4 μg l−1 arsenic.