We describe the development of a direct method for determination of selenium in serum by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry with deuterium background correction. We include palladium modifier to stabilize selenium in the presence of a strong reducing agent. Spectral interferences from iron are not evident in this system. Because an analysis requires only 20 microL of serum or ...

A method is presented for the rapid determination of total mercury in blood. The reagent used is alkaline sodium borohydride, and no digestion of the sample is needed. The detection limit and sensitivity are 1.15 and 1.59 ng of Hg, respectively. The method gives reproducible results (the CV ranged from 5.3 to 6.7% for low and high mercury blood samples, respectively), comparable to those obtain...

A simple and direct method for determining lead in blood by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry was developed by modifying the method of Hodges and Skelding (1983). In the present method, a graphite tube was coated with molybdenum and both Triton X-100 and phosphoric acid were added to heparinized whole blood. The calibration curve for lead determination, prepared by adding standard l...

Comparable results are obtained when serum calcium is measured by a colorimetric cresolpthalein method on the Technicon SMA 12/60 and by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Instrumentation Laboratory Model 153 instrument), with strontium as an internal standard. Sera from 250 patients with abnormal calcium concentrations, ranging from 4.9 mg/lOU ml to 9.0 mg/100 ml, were measured by each metho...

In this study, wild hatched eggshells were collected from the nests of threatened Wattled Crane and South Ground-Hornbill in an attempt to determine their total Hg concentrations. A total of fourteen eggshell samples from both bird species were collected from different study areas in the Mpumlanga and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces of South Africa. The eggshells were acid digested under reflux and the...

Chronic lead exposure has been associated with elevated blood pressure in epidemiological studies. It is not known whether the previously observed relation between blood lead and hypertension persists after significant reductions have been made in environmental lead contamination. We examined the relation between blood lead levels and blood pressure in a representative sample of 14 952 whites a...

A flow system was developed for the determination of total mercury concentration in fish samples by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry (CVAAS), based on the multicommuted flow injection analysis (MCFIA) approach. The system uses independently controlled solenoid valves for the introduction of reagents and samples. When not injected, solutions were recirculating to the reservoir bott...

Imbalance in the composition of trace metals, recognized to be essential to normal human homeostasis, besides the accumulation of potentially toxic or nonessential trace metals, may cause disease. Thus, there is a need for their analysis in cancerous and noncancerous human tissues to examine the relationship between cancer and these elements. Trace metal concentrations including Cd, Ni, Zn, Cu,...

BACKGROUND Wild rodents are suitable for monitoring environmental pollution and exposure risk assessment for people living in contaminated areas. The content of selected risk elements in the femora of bank vole (Myodes glareolus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) and wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) was estimated from the Kolíňany area of Slovakia, which is characterized by a high deg...

The concentrations of lead, cadmium and copper in roadside soil and plants in Elazig, Turkey were investigated. Soil samples were collected at distances of 0, 25 and 50 m from the roadside. The concentrations of lead, cadmium and copper were measured by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (FAAS). A slotted tube atom trap (STAT) was used to increase the sensitivity of lead and cadmium in F...