Preparation of an intra-laboratory reference material--determination of the aluminum content of a pooled 5% albumin (human) solution by ETAAS, MFS and ICP-AES.

Human albumin solutions as well as other biological products intended for human use may contain aluminum as a result of intentional addition due to manufacturing protocol or through inadvertent contamination occurring during the manufacturing process. Because of the implication of aluminum in human disease, it is desirable that aluminum levels in these products be monitored. To satisfy the need for a reference material that is representative of albumin products that are intended for therapeutic use, a pooled 5% human albumin solution was prepared in bulk to serve as a reference for aluminum during analytical procedures. Aliquots of the albumin pool were analyzed for their aluminum content by three independent analytical methods, namely, electrothermal atomic absorption, molecular fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. Measured values for aluminum in the albumin solution showed good agreement between the different analytical methods. The concentration of aluminum was determined to be 0.512 microgram Al/ml by the atomic absorption method, 0.502 microgram Al/ml by molecular fluorescence, and 0.498 microgram Al/ml by the inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission method. The overall average concentration was calculated to be 0.507 microgram/ml +/- 0.009 micrograms Al/ml. The preparation of the albumin reference and its subsequent aluminum analysis is described.

Determination of arsenic and selenium in spinach and tomato leaves reference materials using flow injection and atomic absorption spectrometry.

A flow-injection atomic absorption spectrometric method was developed for the determination of trace amounts of arsenic and selenium in proposed spinach and tomato leaves standard reference materials (SRM 1570a and SRM 1573a). The samples were digested with HNO(3), H(2)SO(4) and HClO(4) using reflux column. The experimental details for sample preparation and the flow injection hydride generation method are discussed. The effect of matrix and various acid concentrations on the extraction and absorbance was also studied. The method has detection limits of 0. 15 ng As/ml and 0.17 ng Se/ml. Standard Reference Materials (SRM 1571 and 1547) were analyzed and the results agreed well with the certified values.

Plutonium-induced wounds in beagles.

Beagle dogs were given subcutaneous implants of plutonium in their forepaws to mimic hand wounds received by workers accidentally contaminated with plutonium. Ten dogs received 9.46 +/- 0.43 mu Ci of plutonium oxide, and eight dogs received 1.25 +/- 0.60 mu Ci of plutonium nitrate. Surviving dogs were sacrificed at 8 and 5 yr, respectively, after exposure, and radionanalyses were performed on the injection site, regional lymph nodes, liver, spleen and bone. Histopathologic and autoradiographic examinations were performed on injection sites, regional lymph nodes, livers, spleens, kidneys and grossly observed lesions. The injected paws sequestered 21 and 16%, respectively, of the injected activity from plutonium oxide and plutonium nitrate in hypocellular scar tissue. The highest concentrations of translocated radionuclides were found in the regional lymph nodes. Histopathologic and autoradiographic examinations of regional lymph nodes showed that the alpha activity was largely sequestered by scar tissue that replaced lymphoid parenchyma in the plutonium-oxide-injected dogs. In the plutonium-nitrate-injected dogs, activity was widely distributed in relatively intact regional lymph nodes. The liver had the next highest concentration for both radionuclides; activity was present as alpha stars. The spleen had the next highest concentration for plutonium-oxide-injected dogs, although concentrations in the spleen were lower than the skeleton in the plutonium-nitrate-injected dogs. Osteosarcomas and hepatomas were present in one dog injected with plutonium oxide. There does not appear to be any unique risk for dogs related to the subcutaneous route of exposure to plutonium.