Abstract
Methods are described for the estimation of copper directly in acidified urine and after twentyfold dilution of serum with 0.1 N HCl using a sensitive atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Suppression of up to 10% of the apparent copper content was found to arise due to the inorganic components of urine. This effect was overcome by the addition of inorganic salts to the standard used for urine estimation. The organic components of serum and urine had no significant effect on the apparent copper content. An analytical rate of 10 samples per hour can be achieved. Random contamination presents a serious problem and is best detected by replicate analyses. A study of the serum copper level of 24 normal subjects (12 men, 12 women) gave a range of 78–111 μg/100 ml for men (mean 95 μg/100 ml) and 70–165 μg/100 ml for women (mean 122 μg/100 ml). The 24-h urine excretion of copper from 10 normal subjects (5 men, 5 women) had a mean of 52 μg/24 h and a range from 26–64 μg/24 h.
Published Version
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