Determination of depleted uranium in human hair by quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: method development and validation

Abstract

The presence of depleted uranium (DU) in the environment and its possible transfer to humans has been a matter of concern for the potential risks to human health. Depleted uranium has been used for military purposes in the last few years of conflict due to its great availability and low cost. Uranium content has been mainly determined in biological fluids, such as urine and blood. Human hair can be considered as a good alternative indicator of exposure to DU thanks to its ability of accumulating chemical elements over a long period of time. Determining the isotopic composition of elements always requires using a sensitive and precise analytical technique. In this regard, isotope ratio quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was considered as a qualified analytical technique and consequently employed in the present study in combination with a desolvating sample introduction system. The method was in-house validated at three different levels of concentration of depleted uranium (50, 500 and 1000 ng/l) according to common standards and guidelines. The limit of quantification of the method in hair was 7.21 mg/kg with a within-laboratory reproducibility, in terms of variation coefficient, of 16.8, 6.1 and 5.5% for the three levels, respectively. A novel analytical approach was applied to the specificity studies for hair contaminated by DU with different background levels of NU.

Determination of uranium isotopic ratio (235U/238U) using extractive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

“…Mass spectrometry (MS) is a relatively universal method with high sensitivity and good selectivity; however, uranyl compounds are inorganic analytes, which are commonly in solutions with complex matrices and are incompatible with most commercially available ionization techniques. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) [23][24][25] and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IR-MS) are two widely used mass spectrometric methods for the analysis of uranyl compounds. 26 In ICP both organic and inorganic analytes are broken down to elemental species for further MS analysis.…”

Resonance light scattering detection of uranium based on its reaction with a Schiff base containing tetradentate ligand and phosphate groups to form supramolecular polymer

“…The tolerance concentrations are shown in Table 2. It can be seen that some anions, such as SO 4 2-, NO 3 -, Cl -and CH 3 COO -, do not interfere even at high concentrations. The tolerance ratio of metal ions to uranium(VI) are in the range of 50-200 in the absence of diethylentriamine penta-acetic acid (DTPA).…”

“…At present, several analytical methods have been used for the detection of uranium, such as atomic emission spectrometry [1], gamma ray absorption [2], neutron activation analysis [3], inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry [4], fission track registration technique [5], and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy [6]. However, these methods need expensive equipments and high running cost, resulting in the unsuitability for the routine analysis.…”

A Fast Ultrasound-assisted Extraction Sample Preparation for Multi-elemental Determination of Contaminants in Pharmaceutical Ingredients by ICP-MS

“…Due to the high levels of concomitants in the pharmaceutical ingredient matrices such as chlo-ride, carbon, and others, the determination of As, Cr, and V by ICP-MS is affected by polyatomic interferences. These include -but are not restricted to -argon and chloride species, such as 38 Ar 13 C + , 35 (11,24,25). Under these conditions, the use of a Dynamic Reaction Cell™ (DRC™) in conjunction with ICP-MS instrumentation is essential to avoid any interference during the determination of As, Cr, and V in pharmaceutical active ingredients.…”