Fast method for determination of Cd, Cu, Pb, Se, and Zn in whole blood by DRC-ICP-MS using the simple dilution procedure

A fast and very sensitive method based on inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and Dynamic Reaction Cell (DRC-ICP-MS) for determination of Cd, Cu, Pb, Se, and Zn in whole blood was developed by using of the reference certified materials. After a simple dilution of the samples (1 : 9) in a diluent containing 5 g l(-1) NH3, 0.5 g l(-1) Triton-X, 0.5 g l(-1) EDTA and 6 ml l(-1) butan-1-ol, they were directly introduced by pneumatic nebulization into the plasma. Excellent performances were achieved in reducing the polyatomic interferences on Cd, Se, and Pb isotopes through charge-transfer mechanism by the use of both butan-1-ol in the sample and DRC technology operated with methane as reaction gas. In the same circumstances, the results were only reasonably good for Zn and Cu. Limits of detection in undiluted whole blood sample were in the range of 1.5 ng l(-1) (for Cd and Pb) to 150 ng l(-1) (for Zn). The recovery degrees compared to the certified contents for a 95 % confidence level were: 105 +/- 5 % (Cd); 102 +/- 5 % (Se); 97 +/- 6 % (Pb); 100 +/- 11 % (Zn) and 106 +/- 23 % (Cu).