DETERMINATION OF BORON IN HUMAN SERUM BY INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY AFTER A SIMPLE DILUTION OF THE SAMPLE

A method for the determination of boron in human serum is described. Serum samples were only treated with 0.14 M HNO3 (a five-fold dilution). After addition of beryllium as internal standard to correct for matrix effects, samples were introduced with a concentric nebulizer to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The magnitude of the boron ion signal was optimized by adjusting the lens voltages and the nebulizer gas flow rate and memory effects, which can be experienced with the conventional methodology for sample introduction, were reduced to an acceptable level by the use of a short (2 min) cleanout procedure. To avoid the overlap from the intense C-12+-peak with the B-11+-peak, the B-10+-peak was used for the boron determinations. This procedure gave a boron blank level of about 1.7 mug l-1 and a detection limit of 0.5 mug l-1 for human serum. External calibration was applied for the quantitation of boron. The proposed method was tested by analysing a ''second-generation'' biological reference material Freeze-Dried Human Serum (University of Ghent). Results are also given for three other biological reference materials, namely Wheat Flour SRM 1567a, Bovine Liver SRM 1577a and Total Diet SRM 1548 (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Analyses of serum samples from twelve healthy individuals yielded boron concentrations ranging from 4.1 to 25.8 gg l-1.