Self-aliquoting micro-grooves in combination with laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry for the analysis of challenging liquids: quantification of lead in whole blood

We present a technique for the fast screening of the lead concentration in whole blood samples using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The whole blood sample is deposited on a polymeric surface and wiped across a set of micro-grooves previously engraved into the surface. The engraving of the micro-grooves was accomplished with the same laser system used for LA-ICP-MS analysis. In each groove, a part of the liquid blood is trapped, and thus, the sample is divided into sub-aliquots. These aliquots dry quasi instantly and are then investigated by means of LA-ICP-MS. For quantification, external calibration against aqueous standard solutions was relied on, with iron as an internal standard to account for varying volumes of the sample aliquots. The (208)Pb/(57)Fe nuclide ratio used for quantification was obtained via a data treatment protocol so far only used in the context of isotope ratio determination involving transient signals. The method presented here was shown to provide reliable results for Recipe ClinChek® Whole Blood Control levels I–III (nos. 8840–8842), with a repeatability of typically 3 % relative standard deviation (n = 6, for Pb at 442 μg L(−1)). Spiked and non-spiked real whole blood was analysed as well, and the results were compared with those obtained via dilution and sectorfield ICP-MS. A good agreement between both methods was observed. The detection limit (3 s) for lead in whole blood was established to be 10 μg L(−1) for the laser ablation method presented here. [Figure: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00216-016-9717-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.