Urinary excretion pattern of triethyllead, diethyllead and inorganic lead in the tetraethyllead poisoning.

The fractional determination of triethyl lead, diethyl lead, inorganic lead and total lead in the urines of a patient with tetraethyl lead poisoning was performed by means of hydride generation-flameless atomic absorption spectrometry. The chemical species of lead in the urine 21 days after the exposure comprised about 50% diethyl lead, about 48% inorganic lead and about 2% triethyl lead. The fractional determination of triethyl lead, diethyl lead and inorganic lead in the urines of the patient after intravenous drip of 1000 mg of calcium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Ca-EDTA) only once (30 days after the exposure) was also performed. Compared with the lead output 2 days before the treatment (28 days after the exposure), the total lead output in the urine during the 12 hours after the intravenous drip of Ca-EDTA was increased to about 4 times, with inorganic lead accouting for about 98% of the increased output but with no increase in triethyl lead or diethyl lead output.