Liquid chromatographic determination of bromide in human milk and plasma

A liquid chromatographic method for the determination of bromide present in human body fluids at the level of 0.5-5.0 ppm is presented. The method involves liquid--liquid extraction of lipids and other lipophilic compounds, destruction of the aqueous phase and analysis of the residue on an aminopropyl bonded silica column with UV detection at 214 nm. The method was applied to the analysis of 278 samples of Dutch human milk. Comparison of the results obtained with those from a routinely used colorimetric procedure for plasma indicated excellent agreement. The ease of automation of the described procedure and its excellent reproducibility make it a good alternative to existing methods for bromide analysis in body fluids.