Determination of manganese in whole blood and serum

We describe methods for determination of manganese in whole blood and serum with Zeeman-effect flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy. These analyses are performed on a twofold or fourfold dilution of the specimen in Triton X-100, 1 g/L. No predigestion or extraction procedures are required. The method of standard additions was used for quantitation. Within-run coefficients of variation for whole-blood manganese were 7.0 and 5.5% for 2.29 and 5.67 micrograms/L, respectively. For determination of serum manganese, coefficients of variation were 10.3 and 5.3% for 0.97 and 3.01 micrograms/L, respectively. Manganese detection limits for the assays were 3.0 pg. Whole-blood manganese concentrations, determined for 60 subjects, yielded a mean (+/- SD) of 9.03 (+/- 2.25) micrograms/L. Mean serum manganese concentration, determined for 20 subjects, was 1.82 (+/- 0.64) microgram/L. No correlation was found between blood manganese concentrations and age, sex, or smoking status.