Development and validation of analytical methods for ultra-trace beryllium in biological matrices

Abstract

Beryllium (Be) is still not well understood from a toxicological point of view, and studies that involve the determination of different Be compounds species in tissues need to be conducted. In this paper we describe the development and validation of reliable methods for the detection of ultra-trace levels of Be in various biological matrices. Blood and tissues (liver, lung, spleen, and kidney) were used in this study. The samples were digested with a mixture of nitric and perchloric acids for Be and BeAl and an addition of sulfuric acid was made for BeO. The solutions were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with 6Li as internal standard. The detection limits are in the order of 0.02 ng/g for tissue and 0.03 ng/mL for blood, and were compared to existing reference methods. To our knowledge, this is the first study that assesses dissolution of the different Be compounds in biological matrices, while also undergoing a rigorous optimization and complete validation. This method has proven that it is reliable, among the most sensitive available in the literature, and that it can be used in trace toxicological studies for Be.