Use of Dried Blood Spots for Estimating Children?s Exposures to Heavy Metals in Epidemiological Research

Abstract

Abstract Children's exposures to arsenic (As), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and cadmium (Cd) are of particular concern in early-life. Exposures to heavy metals are traditionally measured in whole venous blood, which is costly and invasive. As an alternative we describe a method for quantifying As, Pb, Hg, and Cd in dried blood spot (DBS) samples. This article aims to validate a method for quantifying levels of As, Pb, Hg, and Cd in finger-stick DBS samples. ...