Abstract
An isotope dilution technique coupled with electrothermal volatilization and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric detection is reported for the quantitative determination of Pb in human blood plasma with a calculated limit of detection of 16 × 10–15 g. Sample preparation is simple, requiring only addition of concentrated nitric acid and a measured amount of 204Pb spike in solution. Analysis time is typically 2.5 min, the relative standard deviation is n= 5), calculations require only simple numeric manipulations and the isotopic ratio of the Pb isotopes can be monitored. The Pb concentration of a commercially available dehydrated human plasma was found to be 1.27 ± 0.02 ng ml–1.

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