ANODIC-STRIPPING VOLTAMMETRIC DETERMINATION OF TOTAL COPPER IN BLOOD-PLASMA

Blood plasma specimens from renal patients and healthy control subjects were mineralized by microwave irradiation for subsequent determination of total copper by differential-pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was used for accuracy evaluation purposes. An excellent correlation between the two techniques was obtained: [DPASV] = 0.977[GFAAS] - 0.822, r = 0.998, n = 30, p < 0.001. The detection limit of the electrochemical method was 0.2 mug Cu l-1. Mean concentrations (+/- 1 S.D.) of 1261 +/- 126 and 760 +/- 33 mug Cu l-1 were found for azotemic individuals and controls, respectively. The proposed DPASV-based method represents an important and inexpensive analytical alternative for the clinical chemistry laboratory.