MULTIELEMENT ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL TISSUES BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS-SPECTROMETRY

A general method for the quasi-simultaneous determination of most of the elements present in biological tissues by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is described. Its validity was assessed by the multi-element analysis of NBS SRM 1577a Bovine Liver and its sensitivity was established by spiking digested samples of fish muscle tissue with known amounts of elements (0.125, 0.250, 0.500, 1.00 and 10.00 ng ml-1). Spike recoveries of 0.124 +/- 0.002 ng ml-1 (five repeated determinations for each element in the multi-elemental determination mode) were obtained for eleven elements (Ag, Co, Cr, Li, Mn, Mo, Sb, Sr, Tl, V and Y), 0.241 +/- 0.008 ng ml-1 for eight elements (As, Ba, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sn, Zr and U), 0.487 +/- 0.015 ng ml-1 for seven elements (B, Cu, Ni, Rb, Se, Ti and W), 0.97 +/- 0.06 ng ml-1 for Al and Zn and 9.53 +/- 0.76 ng ml-1 for Bi, Fe, Sc, Si and I.