Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Method for the simultaneous determination of cadmium and zinc in whole blood by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and measurement in normotensive and hypertensive humans

1982; Elsevier BV; Volume: 122; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0009-8981(82)90278-9

1873-3492

Richard T. Tulley, Harold P. Lehmann,

Heavy metals in environment

A method is described for the analysis of whole blood cadmium and zinc by extraction and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, in which cadmium is analyzed using a graphite furnace, and zinc using an air-acetylene flame with a single slot burner, after dilution of the extract. Recoveries for cadmium and zinc were 100% and 106%, respectively. For cadmium the day-to-day and within-run coefficients of variation were all less than 13% at low concentrations (∼ 27 nmol/l) and 6% or less at high concentrations (∼ 89 nmol/l). For zinc the coefficients of variation for day-to-day and within-run analyses were less than 6% at low (∼ 76 μmol/l) and high concentrations (∼ 138 μmol/l). The sensitivity of the procedure is 0.5 nmol/l for cadmium and 1.2 μmol/l for zinc. Whole blood from 72 normotensive volunteers, 56 treated hypertensives, and 15 untreated hypertensives were analyzed using this method. Cadmium levels were elevated in smokers but not significantly affected by age or sex. Zinc levels were higher in males than in females, but not significantly affected by smoking. Levels of cadmium and zinc were increased in treated hypertensives and greater still in untreated hypertensives. Significant elevations were found for cadmium in treated hypertensive females who smoked, treated and untreated hypertensive male non-smokers, and for the cadmium to zinc ratio in these latter two groups.