XRF analysis of arsenic uptaking in mice organs and tissues

Abstract

In this work, an investigation on the levels of uptaken arsenic in different organs and tissues of mice was carried out. Mice were given water, doped with 100 μg/ml of As 2O 3, during a period of a week. The Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) technique was used for the measurements; the external standard (calibration curve) and the internal standard (addition) methods were used to obtain concentrations. These methods were used in order to minimize matrix effects (which in many cases are complex and prone to errors) and to allow an easy calculation of As concentrations. The average concentrations obtained here were: 3.9 μg/g for liver, 13 μg/g for pre-stomach, 21 μg/g for esophagus, 2.9 μg/ml for blood, and 42 μg/ml for urine.