Improved Method for the Direct Determination of Cadmium in Biological Materials by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

摘要

A method was presented for the determination of metals in mammalian tissues using an atomic absorption method. The procedure calls for digestion of the sample with a quaternary ammonium-hydroxide. With the method one can measure metals which are normally present in low concentrations such as cadmium (7440439) and nickel (7440020) with significant sensitivity and a minimal amount of sample handling. Two month old rats were exposed through inhalation to cadmium-oxide (1306190) aerosols daily for 8 hour periods. The precision of the method was determined in repeated analyses of control and exposed lung tissue. All lungs were divided into approximately five equal portions and each portion analyzed for cadmium, nickel, and zinc (7440666). To determine cadmium and nickel concentrations, 200 to 300 milligrams of wet tissue are needed for precision. These weights can be reduced to 1/20 for the analysis of zinc and copper (7440508). The absorbed amounts were small, suggesting that if the cadmium-oxide aerosol was absorbed, it was also effectively cleared from the system.