A micromethod for the analysis of zinc in plasma or serum by atomic absorption spectrophotometry using graphite furnace.

A micromethod is described for the analysis of zinc in plasma or serum by electrothermal atomisation and graphite furnace utilising less than 20 microliters sample volume. The sample matrix introduced an error when aqueous standards were used. Therefore standards were made up in serum which had been treated with Chelex 100 to remove as much zinc as possible. The residual zinc (less than 0.125 mg/l) was determined by flame analysis using the method of additions and each standard assigned a value equal to the sum of the residual zinc and the amount added. Furnace analyses using standards made up in Chelex-treated serum compared favourably with flame analyses over the whole range, and recovery experiments gave 98 +/- 2% of the expected value with 95 +/- 6% recovery of the added zinc. The within-batch coefficient of variation was 2.5%, day-to-day variation 5.6%. The mean concentration of zinc in paired samples of plasma and serum from 50 adults analysed by flame with viscosity-matched aqueous standards were: plasma (mean +/- SD) 0.821 +/- 0.085 mg/l; serum 0.821 +/- 0.07 mg/l. The same samples were analysed in the graphite furnace using serum standards, and the results were: plasma 0.812 +/- 0.082 mg/l; serum 0.815 +/- 0.08 mg/l. In contrast to earlier reports we were unable to demonstrate a significant difference between plasma and serum zinc concentration in the paired samples.