Accurate determination of sulphur in steels and certain heat-resisting alloys by isotope dilution mass spectrometry

A mass spectrometric isotope dilution method for the determination of sulphur in steels and certain alloys has been investigated. Addition of bromine in the dissolution of carbon steels was necessary for the complete conversion of sulphur into sulphate. The relative standard deviation was better than 1.5% for sulphur contents in the range 40-3,000 ppm. The results on standard materials were in good agreement with the certified values for samples of BCS, but lower than those for JSS and NBS.     

同位素稀释液相色谱-串联质谱法准确测定猪肉中的氯霉素

建立了同位素稀释质谱测定猪肉中氯霉素残留的方法,对影响溶剂提取、萃取净化、液相色谱-质谱检测方法准确度的因素进行了量化与优化。猪肉样品经液氮冷冻粉碎,加入氯霉素-D5同位素内标和0.1 mol/L醋酸钠缓冲溶液(pH 5),用乙酸乙酯提取4次,正己烷脱脂,HLB固相萃取小柱净化后采用负离子多反应监测模式下的液相色谱-质谱技术检测。方法的线性范围为0.01～0.5 ng/g,相关系数r2大于0.999;检出限和定量限分别为0.004 ng/g和0.02 ng/g;在0.02 ng/g和1.0 ng/g加标水平的回收率(n=3)分别为95.2%～109.1%和99.7%～102.5%;日内和日间相对标准偏差均小于2%。研究了氯霉素及氯霉素-D5的基体效应,测得不同流动相和稀释溶剂组成时基体效应因子k的范围在0.950～1.015之间。研究结果对同位素稀释质谱痕量残留检测结果准确度的控制、方法的建立与验证具有参考意义。     

Determination of magnesium at trace levels by isotope dilution

A mass spectrometric method for the isotopic analysis of magnesium and its determination at low concentrations in the presence of an excess of other elements is described. The lowest level at which magnesium was determined was 1 ppm with a precision and error +/- 1%.     

Accurate determination and certification of bromine in plastic by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The accurate analytical method of bromine (Br) in plastic was developed by an isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICPMS). The figures of merit of microwave acid digestion procedures using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or quartz vessels were studied and the latter one was suitable for Br analysis since its material was free from Br contamination. The sample dilution procedures using Milli-Q water or ammonium (NH₃) solution were also studied to remove memory effect for ICPMS measurement. Although severe memory effect was observed on Milli-Q water dilution, NH₃ solution could remove it successfully. The accuracy of the ID-ICPMS was validated by a certified reference material (CRM) as well as the comparison with the analytical result obtained by an instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) as different analytical method. From these results, the ID-ICPMS developed in the present study could be evaluated as accurate analytical method of Br in plastic materials and it could apply to certification of Br in candidate plastic CRM with respect to such regulations related to RoHS (restriction of the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronics equipment) directive.     

Accurate analysis of trace pentachlorophenol in textiles by isotope dilution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A highly accurate method for measuring pentachlorophenol (PCP) concentrations in textile samples was developed. This highly accurate method for the analysis of textile samples is valuable, given the inherent challenges associated with the complexity of the sample matrix. This method can be applied to certify the concentration of pentachlorophenol in textile CRMs. A measurement procedure based on isotope dilution liquid chromatography-isotope dilution mass spectrometry (LC-IDMS) was developed. Samples were pretreated with acid and then with n-hexane. Excellent precision was obtained. The validated concentration ranges for the method were 1.0-50 ng/g, the LOD was 1.0 ng/g, and the LOQ was 5.0 ng/g. The precision of this method is in the range of 0.80-1.40%. The method can trace to mass.     

氨基酸-稳定同位素稀释质谱法用于合成肽段准确含量分析

建立了氨基酸同位素稀释液相色谱-串联质谱法准确测定合成肽段绝对含量的方法。实验中对合成肽段的纯度进行了表征,色谱纯度表征结果为99%以上,质谱纯度为90%以上。在肽段溶液中加入13C标记的氨基酸后进行酸溶液水解时间的优化,水解后的氨基酸直接经液相色谱分离和质谱检测,结果表明肽段中的被测氨基酸在150 ℃、6 mol/L HCl溶液水解4～6 h就可以达到水解平衡。每个肽段选择两个或两个以上的被测氨基酸,测得随机选择的5种合成肽段的绝对含量为62.07%～88.18%,测定结果的相对标准偏差小于8%,相对误差小于5%,均满足定量要求。除常用的被测氨基酸苯丙氨酸、缬氨酸、异亮氨酸外,还考察了选择赖氨酸和精氨酸作为被测氨基酸的可行性,实验结果表明增加精氨酸为被测氨基酸是可行的,从而进一步增加了方法的普适性。该方法的建立避免了色谱法定量时氨基酸衍生化处理带来的副反应影响及操作繁琐等问题,提高了肽段含量测定的准确度和精密度,为肽段含量的准确测定提供了一种新的方法。     

Determination of sulfur in nickel-base alloys and alloy steels by isotope dilution mass spectrometry

An isotope dilution mass spectrometric method has been developed for the precise determination of 3–300 p.p.m. of sulfur in nickel-base alloys and alloy steels. The sample is dissolved in mixed acids, a spike is added, and nitrate ions are removed. Sulfate is reduced with a mixture of hydriodic, hypophosphorous, and hydrochloric acids; the hydrogen sulfide evolved is absorbed in cadmium acetate solution and converted to silver sulfide, which is burned to sulfur dioxide, for the isotope analysis. The relative standard deviation at the 50-p.p.m. level for 1-g samples is less than 3 %.     

Determination of trace sulfur in biodiesel and diesel standard reference materials by isotope dilution sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A method is described for quantification of sulfur at low concentrations on the order of mg kg⁻¹ in biodiesel and diesel fuels using isotope dilution and sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-SF-ICP-MS). Closed vessel microwave-assisted digestion was employed using a diluted nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide decomposition medium to reduce sample dilution volumes. Medium resolution mode was employed to eliminate isobaric interferences at ³²S and ³⁴S related to polyatomic phosphorus and oxygen species, and sulfur hydride species. The method outlined yielded respective limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) of 0.7 mg kg⁻¹ S and 2.5 mg kg⁻¹ S (in the sample). The LOD was constrained by instrument background counts at ³²S but was sufficient to facilitate value assignment of total S mass fraction in NIST SRM 2723b Sulfur in Diesel Fuel Oil at 9.06 ± 0.13 mg kg⁻¹. No statistically significant difference at a 95% confidence level was observed between the measured and certified values for certified reference materials NIST SRM 2773 B100 Biodiesel (Animal-Based), CENAM DRM 272b and NIST SRM 2723a Sulfur in Diesel Fuel Oil, validating method accuracy.     

Quantitative Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry--the determination of creatinine by isotope dilution mass spectrometry

Accurate quantitation has been demonstrated on many different types of mass spectrometer. However, quantitative applications of Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) have been limited. In this study, the quantitative potential of FTICRMS has been investigated using an exact matching isotope dilution method for the determination of creatinine in serum. Creatinine is an important clinical biomarker and its measurement is used as an assessment of renal function. The quantitation of creatinine was selected because a high-accuracy high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) determination using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer has already been successfully developed in-house. Therefore, a direct comparison of the quantitative capability of FTICRMS could be made against an established method. The accuracy of the quantitation of creatinine was found to be equivalent to that obtained using LC/MS. However, the expanded measurement uncertainty (k = 2) was larger, at 6%, when using FTICRMS compared with 1% when using HPLC/MS with the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer.     

A method for the determination of theophylline in serum by isotope dilution mass spectrometry

Summary A method for the determination of theophylline in human serum by the isotope dilution/mass spectrometric technique is described. As an internal standard labelled (1,3-¹⁵N₂-2-¹³C)theophylline is added to the serum sample. The analyte and internal standard are extracted with chloroform/2-propanol (90:10) and converted to the trimethylsilyl derivatives. The extraction and silylation procedures are checked by adding theophylline and internal standard in various concentrations to blank serum and determining the recovery. The trimethylsilyl derivatives of labelled and non-labelled theophylline are separated and detected by GC-MS with the mass spectrometer set to m/z 252 and 255. The amounts of theophylline in the serum are calculated from the isotope ratios measured by selected ion monitoring. The accuracy, precision and recovery of this GC-MS method are presented and discussed. The coefficient of variation determined from duplicate samples was less than 2.5%. The detection limit was 10 ng/ml at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1.Part of the work was presented at the 32th Kongreß der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Laboratoriumsmedizin, Frankfurt 1991     

Serum/plasma methylmercury determination by isotope dilution gas chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of methylmercury in plasma and serum samples was developed. The method uses isotope dilution with ¹⁹⁸Hg-labeled methylmercury, extraction into dichloromethane, back-extraction into water, aqueous-phase ethylation, purge and trap collection, thermal desorption, separation by gas chromatography, and mercury isotope specific detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. By spiking 2 mL sample with 1.2 ng tracer, measurements in a concentration interval of (0.007–2.9) μg L⁻¹ could be performed with uncertainty amplification factors <2. A limit of quantification of 0.03 μg L⁻¹ was estimated at 10 times the standard deviation of concentrations measured in preparation blanks. Within- and between-run relative standard deviations were <10% at added concentration levels of 0.14 μg L⁻¹, 0.35 μg L⁻¹ and 2.8 μg L⁻¹, with recoveries in the range 82–110%. Application of the method to 50 plasma/serum samples yielded a median (mean; range) concentration of methylmercury of 0.081 (0.091; <0.03–0.19) μg L⁻¹. This is the first time methylmercury has been directly measured in this kind of specimen, and is therefore the first estimate of a reference range.     

Calibration graphs in isotope dilution mass spectrometry

Isotope-based quantitation is routinely employed in chemical measurements. Whereas most analysts seek for methods with linear theoretical response functions, a unique feature that distinguishes isotope dilution from many other analytical methods is the inherent possibility for a nonlinear theoretical response curve. Most implementations of isotope dilution calibration today either eliminate the nonlinearity by employing internal standards with markedly different molecular weight or they employ empirical polynomial fits. Here we show that the exact curvature of any isotope dilution curve can be obtained from three-parameter rational function, y = f(q) = (a₀ + a₁q)/(1 + a₂q), known as the Padé[1,1] approximant. The use of this function allows eliminating an unnecessary source of error in isotope dilution analysis when faced with nonlinear calibration curves. In addition, fitting with Padé model can be done using linear least squares.     

Determination of fission product ruthenium by isotope dilution mass spectrometry

Isotope dilution mass spectrometry using enriched isotope⁹⁶Ru as a spike was applied to the determination of ruthenium as a fission product. Ruthenium in the solution was oxidized to RuO₄ by Ce/IV/ and separated from coexisting metal elements by distillation. Silica-gel technique was employed to enhance ion current of ruthenium in the mass spectrometric measurement. The lower detection limit was 0.005 g ml^–1 and the relative standard deviations /n=3/ for 1.2 and 0.05 g ml^–1 of ruthenium were 0.2 and 0.5%, respectively.     

Average mass approach to stable isotope dilution mass spectrometry

The application of the fundamental equation for isotopic dilution mass spectrometry to real samples often requires using approximations which can lead to significant errors. A new approach relating the composition of isotopic mixtures to the average mass of the mass spectral pattern is presented. The fundamental equations are completely general; they should be applicable to a wide range of problems and may provide improved accuracy and precision in some cases.     

Ultratrace-level radium-226 determination in seawater samples by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

An improved and novel sample preparation method for ²²⁶Ra determination in liquid samples by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry using laboratory-prepared ²²⁸Ra tracer has been developed. The procedure involves a selective preconcentration achieved by applying laboratory-prepared MnO₂ resin followed by cation exchange chromatographic separation. In order to completely eliminate possible molecular interferences, medium mass resolution (R = 4,000) combined with chemical separation was found to be a good compromise that enhanced the reliability of the method. The detection limit of 0.084 fg g⁻¹ (3.1 mBq kg⁻¹) achieved is comparable to that of the emanation method or alpha spectrometry and is suitable for low-level environmental measurements. The chemical recovery of the sample preparation method ranged from 72 to 94%. The proposed method enables a rapid, accurate and less labor-intensive approach to routine environmental ²²⁶Ra determination than the radioanalytical techniques conventionally applied.     

Determination of trace levels of iron in a seawater sample using isotope dilution/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

An analytical method for trace levels of iron in a seawater sample using isotope dilution ICP-MS was developed. Preconcentration of iron and the removal of major elements in seawater such as alkali and alkaline-earth elements can be carried out quickly using a chelating resin disk by adjusting the sample pH to 3. The collision cell option of the ICP-MS instrument method was used to improve the performance of the instrument for iron measurements since ArO and ArN interferences could be reduced using this analytical method. About 4 ml min(-1) helium, as the collision gas, were introduced into the cell. 40Ar14N and 40Ar16O which interfere with 54Fe and 56Fe in water had their amounts decreased by 5 orders of magnitude. Then, the isotope dilution method was used for iron determination below ng g(-1) level of trace iron in four environmental reference materials (river water standard sample JAC-0031 (Japan Soc. for Analytical Chemistry), estuarine standard sample SLEW-2 (NRC Canada) and seawater standard samples CASS-3 and NASS-5 (NRC Canada)) were measured. Good agreement between analytical results and certified values of reference materials was obtained, which confirmed the effectiveness of this method.     

Stable isotope dilution method for the determination of guanidinoacetic acid by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

For more than 30 years, guanidinoacetic acid (GAA), together with other guanidino compounds, has been proposed as an important marker for renal failure, in kidney transplantation, and for renal metabolism, especially for the metabolic activity of the renal proximal tubules. Since the discovery of the first patient with guanidinoacetic acid methyltransferase deficiency in 1994 by St?ckler et al. (Pediatr. Res. 1994; 36: 409), GAA has become of great interest for all laboratories involved in the diagnosis of metabolic diseases. In the literature there are several methods described for the determination of GAA, ranging from ion-exchange chromatography with post-column derivatisation, enzymatic methods, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), to liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation mass spectrometry (LC/APCI-MS). Here a stable isotope dilution method for quantitative and accurate determination of GAA in urine, plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid is described. GAA is converted to the bis(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine di(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) derivative by stepwise derivatisation with hexafluoroacetylacetone and N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA). Analysis can be performed using a standard benchtop GC/MS system. For quantitative GAA determination with 1,2-(13)C-GAA as internal standard, selected ion monitoring is performed using m/z 460/462, with m/z 432/433 and 375/376 as qualifiers.     

Quantitative determination of four nitrofuran metabolites in meat by isotope dilution liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry

A confirmatory method based on isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has been developed for the low-level determination of residues of four nitrofuran veterinary drugs in meat, e.g., furazolidone, furaltadone, nitrofurantoin, and nitrofurazone. The procedure entails an acid-catalysed release of protein-bound metabolites, followed by their in situ conversion into the 2-nitrobenzaldehyde (NBA) imine-type derivatives. Liquid-liquid extraction and clean-up on a polymeric solid phase extraction cartridge are then performed before LC-MS/MS analysis by positive electrospray ionisation (ESI) applying multiple reaction monitoring of three transition reactions for each compound. Reliable quantitation is obtained by using one deuterated analogue per analyte (d4-NBA derivative) as internal standard (IS). Validation of the method in chicken meat was conducted following the European Union (EU) criteria for the analysis of veterinary drug residues in foods. The decision limits (CCalpha) were 0.11-0.21 microg/kg, and the detection capabilities (CCbeta) 0.19-0.36 microg/kg, thus below the minimum required performance limit (MRPL) set at 1 microg/kg by the EU. The method is robust and suitable for routine quality control operations, and more than 200 sample injections were performed without excessive pollution of the mass spectrometer or loss of LC column performance.     

Simultaneous determination of estrogenic and androgenic hormones in water by isotope dilution gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analytical method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of 7 estrogenic hormones (17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, estrone, mestranol, 17α-ethynylestradiol, levonorgestrel, estriol) and 5 androgenic hormones (testosterone, androsterone, etiocholanolone, dihydrotestosterone, androstenedione) in aqueous matrices. This method is unique in its inclusion of all 12 of these estrogens and androgens and is of particular value due to its very short chromatographic run time of 15 min. The use of isotope dilution for all analytes ensures the accurate quantification, accounting for analytical variabilities that may be introduced during sample processing and instrumental analysis. Direct isotopically labelled analogues were used for 8 of the 12 hormones and satisfactory isotope standards were identified for the remaining 4 hormones. Method detection levels (MDLs) were determined to describe analyte concentrations sufficient to provide a signal with 99% certainty of detection. The established MDLs for most analytes were 1-5 ngL(-1) in a variety of aqueous matrices. However, slightly higher MDLs were observed for etiocholanolone, androstenedione, testosterone, levonorgestrel and dihydrotestosterone in some aqueous matrices. Sample matrices were observed to have only a minor impact on MDLs and the method validation confirmed satisfactory method stability over intra-day and inter-day analyses of surface water and tertiary treated effluent samples.