Simultaneous Determination of Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) in Human Plasma by Potentiometric Stripping Analysis

In this paper, Potentiometric Stripping Analysis (PSA) was simultaneously used to determine the concentrations of trace metals (Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu) in human plasma. The metal ions were concentrated as their amalgams on the glassy carbon surface of a working electrode that was previously coated with a thin mercury film and then stripped by a suitable oxidant. The selection of the experimental conditions was made by using the experimental‐designed methodology. The optimum conditions of the method includes a 0.2 M HAc‐NaAc buffer mixture (pH 4.5) as supporting electrolyte, and an electrolysis potential of‐1220 mV. The limits of detection (LOD) were obtained 1 μg L^?1 for Zn(II) and Pb(II), 0.5 μg L^?1 for Cu(II) and 2 μg L^?1 for Cd(II) in the studied medium. The good recoveries were obtained for the analysis in human plasma. The method was applied to blood samples, using the method of standard additions and the results were compared with Inductively Coupled Plasma‐Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP‐AES) as reference method. Furthermore, a simple digestion protocol of samples is investigated compared to the conventional digestion method.