Determination of Al, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Tl in whole blood by atomic absorption spectrometry without preliminary sample digestion

Methods of whole blood trace element determination by Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (in the variant of Zeeman's modulation polarization spectrometry) have been proposed. They do not require preliminary sample digestion. Furnace programs, modifiers and blood dilution factors were optimized. Seronorm™ human whole blood reference materials were used for validation. Dynamic ranges (for undiluted blood samples) were: Al 8 ÷ 210 mg/L; Be 0.3 ÷ 50 mg/L; Cd 0.2 ÷ 75 mg/L; mo 5 ÷ 350 mg/L; Cr 10 ÷ 100 mg/L; Mn 6 ÷ 250 mg/L; Ni 10 ÷ 350 mg/L; Pb 3 ÷ 240 mg/L; Se 10 ÷ 500 mg/L; Tl 2 ÷ 600 mg/L. Precision (RSD) for the middle of dynamic range ranged from 5% for Mn to 11 for Se.