DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACCURATE ANALYSIS PROCEDURE FOR THE BLOOD LEAD LEVEL BY ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

Abstract

Modern medicine has confirmed that lead is a toxic element to  human beings. People with lead poisoning will suffer from some dangerous diseases such as anemia, headache, dizziness and joint swelling. In order to contribute to the study of toxicology and treatment of lead poisoning, it is necessary to determine lead content in human biological samples. Therefore, this study’s objectives is to develop an accurate analysis procedure for the blood lead level by atomic absorption spectrometry. In this study, Perkin Elmer Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer System with substratum modifiers of 10% Trilon X-100 and 20% NH₄H₂PO₄  and HNO₃ was used to analyze the blood lead levels in the normal people and the lead exposed people. The obtained results are as following: the method with the largest deviation is successfully developed when analyzing international standards are not exceed 5% compared to the certificate value. The  detection limi is 0.37 µg/l. Thereby, blood lead levels in total blood samples of normal  people are analyzed.  The results showed that the mean blood lead levels of men and women are 15.37 ± 6.42 µg/l and 11.18 ± 5.69 µg/l, respectively.  The blood lead levels of the lead exposed group are higher than that of the normal group with statistical significance. The results of blood lead analysis are consistent with the subclinical biochemical indicators of the subjects.