Elucidation of the Metabolic Pathways of Selenium and Arsenic by Analytical Toxicology

Abstract

Hyphenated analytical techniques, such as high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) and HPLC-electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS, are powerful tools for evaluating the elemental (HPLC-ICP-MS) and molecular (ESI-MS) speciation of metalloids, such as selenium (Se) and arsenic (As). Because the toxicity of metalloids is highly dependent upon the chemical forms that are present in vivo, toxicological assessment must include both the intact compound and its metabolites. We investigated the metabolic pathways of Se and As compounds and their metabolites using HPLC-ICP-MS and HPLC-ESI-MS.