Navigating laboratory challenges in analyzing low concentrations of toxic/essential metals using ICP-OES in newborn cord blood

Abstract Heavy metals are highly toxic even at ppb concentrations in the blood, posing serious public health concerns. Accurate measurement of these trace elements is challenging but crucial for early diagnosis and treatment. This study highlights the challenges and considerations for accurately measuring trace metal levels in the blood. Heavy metals such as Lead (Pb), Arsenic (As), Aluminium (Al), iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and selenium (Se) were analyzed in a total of 165 newborns' cord blood using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Factors influencing the detectable concentration of metals in the blood include the quality of the specimen, methods of collection and storage, sample digestion, standard solution preparation, test biometrics, limit of blank (LoB), limit of detection (LoD), and limit of quantification (LoQ) of analytical techniques, post-analytical parameters, and quality control were addressed. The median (interquartile range) values of Pb, Al, As, Se, Cu, Fe, and Zn in the newborn blood were 4.26 µg/dL (3.19-5.57), 1.29 µg/dL (0.91-1.70), 1.68 µg/dL (1.38-1.89), 19.62 µg/dL (12.38-32.40), 87.8 µg/dL (76.10-102.04), 239.46 µg/dL (189.04-284.31), and 72.0 µg/dL (64.39-81.63), respectively. Multiple factors directly influence the assessment of accurate levels of trace metals. Before planning an experiment to measure trace metal concentrations, the following points should be considered: test biometrics, the ratio of chemicals used for digestion, test LoB, LoD, LoQ, recovery rate, and test biometrics.