Determination of paraquat in raw and formalin-fixed tissues by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy

ESR method was applied to determine paraquat levels in fresh and formalin-fixed tissues. Paraquat was converted to paraquat radical by adding sodium dithionite to tissue homogenates and detected by ESR. Paraquat levels of more than 0.2 micrograms/ml homogenate could be quantified with 0.1 ml of the homogenate. The use of manganese ions for standardization of paraquat signal enabled much more accurate ESR measurements because this ion was quite stable and its signal did not overlap that of paraquat. Even with tissues fixed in formalin, tissues paraquat levels were measureable after removing formalin from the tissue extract. This fact was verified by studying two cases; the tissues were kept in formalin for 1.5 years in case 1 and for 6.5 years in case 2. In both cases, the paraquat contents in tissues were 0.02-0.08 micrograms/g. In this way ESR is one of the most suitable methods in determining low levels of paraquat in tissues even after they were preserved in formalin for a long time.