Thallium determinations in fetal tissues and maternal brain and kidney

The transfer of T1+ cations through the placental barrier of pregnant mice and rats was studied by comparing the thallium concentrations in the maternal brain and kidney and those in fetal tissue at times of 10 min to 50 h after dosage of the animals with 10 mg/kg body wt. T1(2)SO4. The quantitative determinations were performed with field desorption mass spectrometry after dilution of the homogenised tissue samples with enriched stable isotopes of thallium. The total sample quantity required for one complete assay is 1-3 micrograms, the analysis time for one determination about 30 min.