DETERMINATION OF MANGANESE IN WHOLE-BLOOD AND SERUM

Methods for determination of Mn in whole blood and serum with Zeeman-effect flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy are described. These analyses are performed on a 2-fold or 4-fold dilution of the specimen in Triton X-100, 1 g/l. No predigestion or extraction procedures are required. The method of standard additions was used for quantitation. Within-run coefficients of variation for whole-blood Mn were 7.0 and 5.5% for 2.29 and 5.67 .mu.g/l, respectively. For determination of serum Mn, coefficients of variation were 10.3 and 5.3% for 0.97 and 3.01 .mu.g/l, respectively. Mn detection limits for the assays were 3.0 ng. Whole-blood Mn concentrations, determined for 60 subjects, yielded a mean (.+-. SD) of 9.03 (.+-. 2.25) .mu.g/l. Mean serum Mn concentration, determined for 20 subjects, was 1.82 (.+-. 0.64) .mu.g/l. No correlation was found between blood Mn concentrations and age, sex or smoking status.