Mercury biomonitoring in German adults using volumetric absorptive microsampling

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Analytical Chemistry
• Toxicology

Background:

• Mercury (Hg) is a significant global pollutant with serious human health implications.
• Human biomonitoring of mercury exposure is crucial for public health.
• Dried blood matrices are gaining interest as an alternative to traditional venous blood sampling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) for human mercury biomonitoring.
• To evaluate the stability of mercury in dried blood samples under various conditions.
• To assess the accuracy and precision of VAMS compared to venous blood analysis.

Main Methods:

• Method development involved optimizing sampling, drying, and storage conditions for VAMS.
• Analyte stability was confirmed for samples stored in glass vials after drying.
• Validation utilized paired VAMS and venous blood samples from 68 volunteers, analyzed by direct mercury analysis.

Main Results:

• Analyte stability was ensured for at least 4 weeks under specified storage conditions.
• VAMS demonstrated good sensitivity with limits of detection and quantitation of 0.18 and 0.61 µg/l, respectively.
• High correlation (R² = 0.958) was observed between VAMS and venous blood mercury levels, with improved accuracy and precision at higher concentrations.

Conclusions:

• Volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) combined with direct mercury analysis is a reliable method for human mercury biomonitoring.
• VAMS provides an accurate and practical alternative to venous blood sampling for assessing mercury exposure.
• The VAMS method offers advantages in terms of sample collection and handling for mercury exposure assessment.