Determination of arsenic and lead in single hair strands by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop matrix-matched hair standards and a LA-ICP-MS technique for determination of the As and Pb in a single human hair using single spot scan mode. These results could subsequently be used to infer when the element entered the body. This study was conducted in two parts. First, a method was developed and validated for the elemental analysis of hair by LA-ICP-MS. A calibration strategy in LA-ICP-MS was developed using prepared matrix-matched laboratory hair standards doped with analytes of interest at a defined concentration. The use of hair strand standards enables calibration curves to be obtained by plotting the analyte ion (M+) intensity normalized to34S+(the ratio M+/34S+) as a function of the concentration determined by ICP-MS of the acidic digests. The linear correlation coefficients (R2) of the calibration curves for the analytes As and Pb were typically between 0.9970 and 0.9998, respectively. Second, an actual hair was measured using the developed method. The spatial distribution of As along the hair was observed in a hair sample from a leukaemia patient treated with arsenic trioxide (As2O3). The actual and estimated times over which the drug entered the body were compared and discussed.

Label-Free and Enzyme-Free Colorimetric Detection of Pb2+ Based on RNA Cleavage and Annealing-Accelerated Hybridization Chain Reaction

“…Recently, many analytical techniques have achieved the sensitive detection of Pb 2+ , and techniques such as atomic absorption/emission spectroscopy, − atomic fluorescence spectroscopy, , X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, , and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , can achieve extremely high sensitivity. However, all of these analytical methods require expensive equipment, complicated and time-consuming pretreatment, and highly skilled operators, which greatly limit the wide application of these techniques and increase the difficulty of Pb 2+ detection.…”

Current status of hair analysis in forensic toxicology in China

“…The drug peak was easily found after microsegmental hair analysis, and the intake time of midazolam was inferred more accurately ( Figure 3 ) (unpublished observations). LA-ICP-MS technology was used to investigate the longitudinal distribution of arsenic in a single hair in situ , and a mathematical model was established to predict arsenic entry time based on the retention position of arsenic in the hair and the growth rate of the hair [ 49 ] ( Figure 4 ). A method for manually segmenting single hairs in 2-mm sections and screening for 156 analytes using LC-MS/MS was developed, and applied in 15 single dose cases by analyzing ten hairs each [ 50 ].…”

“… Post-ablation photo of hair sample (A) and arsenic distribution profile in a hair strand (B). Adapted with permission [ 49 ]. …”

Testing LA-ICP-MS analysis of archaeological bones with different diagenetic histories for paleodiet prospect

“…Although a large number of CRMs are available on the market for geological samples, non-silicates as well as biological tissues lack appropriate matrix-matched certified reference materials for accurate quantification of their TE content (Becker and Dietze, 1999;Hare et al, 2012;Hare et al, 2013;Pozebon et al, 2014;Limbeck et al, 2015;Luo et al, 2017;Pozebon et al, 2017). Although there is no perfect match for bones, a CaP glass was prepared by Klemme et al (2008).…”