Understanding biological response to metals has been an area of growing interest in environmental, occupational and biomedical research. In the last few years, biomonitoring of trace elements using a wide range of biospecimens such as urine, blood, plasma, serum or semen have been significantly benefited from the use of highly sensitive multi-element capability techniques such as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). ICP-MS provides an excellent tool for rapid and simple analysis of low concentrations of metals in biological samples. Advantages of ICP-MS over other trace elemental analytical techniques are its low detection limits, low sample volumes, high sample throughput, wide linear dynamic detection range, and effective removal of polyatomic and spectral interferences. In this presentation, we provide examples on the use of high-resolution ICP-MS to establish a biomonitoring-surveillance biomedical program with particular emphasize on the study of metal isotopic ratios. The example of using isotopic ratios of urinary uranium as a decisive tool in diagnosing a patient’s potential exposure to depleted uranium will be discussed. In addition, in the regulatory science space, the selective use of ICP-MS to study in vitro assessment of metal leaching from metal alloys used in medical devices will be demonstrated.

Assessing in vivo and in vitro metal levels by ICP-MS: Selected applications in biomedical and regulatory science research

254th National Meeting (2017)

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