Comparison of the Suitability of Various Atomic Spectroscopic Techinques for the Determination of Selenium in Human Whole Blood

A method was developed for the determination of selenium in human blood by ICP-MS. The procedure involves sample dilution with Triton X-100 and HNO 3 (1 ml of whole blood+1 ml of 1% Triton X-100+1.5 ml of 0.14 mol l -1 HNO 3 +0.2 ml of 5 mg l -1 In solution+water to 10 ml) and determination using the 77 Se line. Standard samples were modified with a solution containing NaCl, Fe, Ca, Br, S, and K. No corrections were made for interferences from polyatomic ions. The applicability of the ICP-MS, ICP-OES, ETAAS and HGAAS techniques to the determination of Se in human blood was compared. Limits of detection (3 s ) of these methods were 6, 76, 14 and 8 µg l -1 Se, respectively. The ICP-MS method was found to be well suited to routine analysis.