Cover: The MAK Collection for Occupational Health and Safety

The MAK Collection for Occupational Health and Safety

German Research Foundation – Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area
(MAK Commission)

ISSN 2509-2383



Arsenic and arsenic compounds – Determination of arsenic species (As(III), As(V), monomethylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid and arsenobetaine) in urine by HPLC‐ICP‐MS

Biomonitoring Method – Translation of the German version from 2018

Peter Schramel1 (Method development)
Bernhard Michalke1 (Method development)
Hendrik Emons2 (External verification)
  Thomas Göen3 (External verification; Head of the working group “Analyses in Biological Materials” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
  Andrea Hartwig4 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
  MAK Commission5

1 Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Research Unit Analytical BioGeoChemistry, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
2 European Commission – Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, 2440 Geel, Belgium
3 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Henkestraße 9–11, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
4 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
5 Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany

Abstract

The working group “Analyses in Biological Materials” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area verified the presented biomonitoring method.

The analytical method described hereinafter permits the simple and specific determination of the arsenic species arsenic (III) (As3+), arsenic (V) (As5+), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and arsenobetaine in urine. The limits of quantitation allow the quantification of the above‐mentioned arsenic species in both occupational and environmental medicine.

To this end, the arsenic species are separated by anion‐exchange high‐performance liquid chromatography (anion‐exchange HPLC) and detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS). Sample preparation is done by diluting the urine with water. Calibration is performed using either single or mixed standards of the different arsenic species or using the standard addition method.

The method was extensively validated and the reliability data were confirmed by an independent laboratory, which has established and cross‐checked the whole procedure.


Keywords

arsenic, arsenic species, arsenic acid, arsenous acid, monomethylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid, arsenobetaine, biomonitoring, urine, HPLC-ICP-MS