Abstract
The analysis of trace elements in biological samples will extend our understanding of the impact that environmental exposure to these elements has on human health. Measuring arsenic content in nails has proven useful in studies evaluating the chronic body burden of arsenic. In this study, we developed methodology with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the determination of total arsenic in nails. We assessed the utility of the washing procedures for removing surface contamination. Four types of preanalysis treatments (water bath, sonication, water bath plus sonication, and control) after sample decomposition by nitric acid were compared to evaluate the digestion efficiencies. In addition, we studied the stability of the solution over 1 wk and the effect of acidity on the arsenic signal. Arsenic content in the digested solution was analyzed by using Ar-N2 plasma with Te as the internal standard. The results suggest that washing once with 1% Triton Χ-100 for 20 min for cleaning nail samples prior to ICP-MS analysis is satisfactory. Repeated measurement analysis of variance revealed that there was no significant difference among the various sample preparation techniques. Moreover, the measurements were reproducible within 1 wk, and acidity seemed to have no substantial influence on the arsenic signal. A limit of detection (on the basis of three times the standard deviation of the blank measurement) of 7 ng As/g toenail was achieved with this system, and arsenic recoveries from reference materials (human hair and nails) were in good agreement (95–106% recovery) with the certified/reference values of the standard reference materials. ICP-MS offers high accuracy and precision, as well as highthroughput capacity in the analysis of total arsenic in nail samples.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
M. N. Bates, A. H. Smith, and C. Hopenhayn-Rich, Arsenic ingestion and internal cancers: a review [see comments],Am. J. Epidemiol. 135, 462–476 (1992).
C. J. Chen, Y. C. Chuang, T. M. Lin, and H. Y. Wu, Malignant neoplasms among residents of a blackfoot disease-endemic area in Taiwan: high-arsenic artesian well water and cancers,Cancer Res. 45, 5895–5899 (1985).
C. J. Chen, C. W. Chen, M. M. Wu, and T. L. Kuo, Cancer potential in liver, lung, bladder and kidney due to ingested inorganic arsenic in drinking water,Br. J. Cancer 66, 888–892 (1992).
R. Heddle and G. D. Bryant, Small cell lung carcinoma and Bowen’s disease 40 years after arsenic ingestion,Chest 84, 776–777 (1983).
K. Murata, T. Iwazawa, T. Takayama, K. Yamashita, and K. Okagawa, Quadruple cancer including Bowen’s disease after arsenic injections 40 years earlier: report of a case,Surg. Today 24, 1115–1118 (1994).
A. H. Smith, C. Hopenhayn-Rich, M. N. Bates, H. M. Goeden, I. Hertz-Picciotto, H. M. Duggan, et al., Cancer risks from arsenic in drinking water [see comments],Environ. Health Perspect. 97, 259–267 (1992).
H. A. Peters, W. A. Croft, E. A. Woolson, B. A. Darcey, and M. A. Olson, Seasonal arsenic exposure from burning chromium-copper-arsenate-treated wood,JAMA 251, 2393–2396 (1984).
C. Ndiokwere, A survey of arsenic levels in human hair and nails—exposure of wood treatment factory employees in Nigeria,Environ. Pollut. 9, 95–105 (1985).
G. Henke, A. Nucci, and L. S. Queiroz, Detection of repeated arsenical poisoning by neutron activation analysis of foot nail segments,Arch. Toxicol. 50, 125–131 (1982).
M. R. Karagas, J. S. Morris, J. E. Weiss, V. Spate, C. Baskett, and E. R. Greenberg, Toenail samples as an indicator of drinking water arsenic exposure,Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 5, 849–852 (1996).
B. Agahian, J. S. Lee, J. H. Nelson, and R. E. Johns, Arsenic levels in fingernails as a biological indicator of exposure to arsenic,Am. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. J. 51, 646–651 (1990).
D. Das, A. Chatterjee, B. K. Mandai, G. Samanta, D. Chakraborti, and B. Chanda, Arsenic in ground water in six districts of West bengal, India: the biggest arsenic calamity in the world. Part 2. Arsenic concentration in drinking water, hair, nails, urine, skin-scale and liver tissue (biopsy) of the affected people,Analyst 120, 917–924 (1995).
A. Olguin, P. Jauge, M. Cebrian, and A. Albores, Arsenic levels in blood, urine, hair and nails from a chronically exposed human population,Proc. West Pharmacol. Soc. 26, 175–177 (1983).
Y. Takagi, S. Matsuda, S. Imai, Y. Ohmori, T. Masuda, J. A. Vinson, et al., Survey of trace elements in human nails: an international comparison,Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 41, 690–695 (1988).
J. Harrington, J. Middaugh, D. Morse, and H. J., A survey of a population exposed to high concentrations of arsenic in well water in Fairbanks, Alaska,Am. J. Epidemiol. 108, 377–384 (1978).
S. Biswas, M. Abdullah, S. Akhter, S. Tarafdar, M. Khaliquzzaman, and A. Khan, Trace elements in human fingernails: measurement by proton-induced X-ray emission,J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 82, 111–124 (1984).
D. Dhawan, A. P. S. Narang, and D. V. Datta, Levels of arsenic in liver cirrhosis,Toxicol. Lett. 15, 2–3 (1983).
M. Garland, J. S. Morris, B. A. Rosner, M. J. Stampfer, V. L. Spate, C. J. Baskett, et al., Toenail trace element levels as biomarkers: reproducibility over a 6-year period,Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2, 493–497 (1993); erratum:Cancer. Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 3(6), 523 (1994).
C. A. Pounds, E. R Pearson, and T. D. Turner, Arsenic in fingernails,J. Forensic Sci. Soc. 19, 165–173 (1979).
D. E. Vance, W. D Ehmann, and W. R. Markesbery, Trace element content in fingernails and hair of a nonindustrialized US control population,Biol. Trace Element Res. 17, 109–121 (1988).
S. Durrant, Alternatives to all-argon plasmas in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS): an overview,Fresenius J. Anal. Chem. 1, 1–4 (1993).
H. Vanhoe, A review of the capabilities of ICP-MS for trace element analysis in body fluids and tissues. [Review],J. Trace Elem. Electrolytes Health Dis. 7, 131–139 (1993).
C. J. Amarasiriwardena, N. Lupoli, V. Potula, S. Korrick, and H. Hu, The determination of total arsenic concentration in human urine by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS),Analyst,123(3), 441–445 (1998).
W. W. Harrison and A. B. Tyree, The determination of trace elements in human fingernails by atomic absorption spectroscopy,Clin. Chim. Acta 31, 63–73 (1971).
M. Pagano and K. Gauvreau,Principles of Biostatistics, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA (1993).
M. Campbell, C. Demesmay, and M. Olle, Determination of total arsenic concentrations in biological matrices by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer,J. Anal. Atom. Spectrom. 9, 1379–1384 (1994).
L. C. Bate and F. F. Dyer, Trace elements in human hair,Nucleonics 23, 72–76 (1965).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, KL.B., Amarasiriwardena, C.J. & Christiani, D.C. Determination of total arsenic concentrations in nails by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Biol Trace Elem Res 67, 109–125 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02784067
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02784067