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Cadmium Levelsin People

Matthew Marah

CHEM 4101

Dec. 9th, 2011

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Uses of Cadmium (Cd)

• Nickel-Cadmium Batteries• Electroplating– To prevent rusting of metals

• Pigments for paints• Nuclear fission• By-product of Zinc & Copper smelting

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Health Effects of Cadmium

– Long-term exposure• Kidney and liver damage• Lung damage

– Short-term exposure• Respiratory troubles• Fatal at high exposure

–Carcinogen• Possibly cancerous

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ProblemLong-term and high Cd exposure have

a negative impact on health and a Cd leak from a plant could cause great damage to people nearby.

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HypothesisPeople who live closer to an

industrial plant, that uses Cd or produces it as a by-product, will have higher levels of Cd in their blood than people living further away.

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Chosen Method• AAS – Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy–No dilution of sample required– Sample decomposes from heat– LOD = 0.01ng/L– LOQ = 1µg/L–Precision: 1-10%–Cost: $5,000-25,000– Sample is run in minutes–Blood can be directly injected and analyzed

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EquipmentWFX-210 AAS Spectrometer

• LOD ≤ 6 µ g/L• LOQ ≈ 1 µ g/L• Precision ≤ 3% for Cd• Flame & Graphite Furnace atomizer• Wavelength Range: 190-900nm• Photomultiplier Tube (PMT)• Autosampler built-in

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Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

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Alternative MethodsMethod Pros Cons

Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES)

Similar procedure and set-up as AAS.

Longer time per sample.

Ion-Exchange Chromatography

(IEC)

Better separation of analyte from matrix.

Similarly charged ions may interfere. Risk altering results

with dilution of sample.

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Alternative Methods Cont.

Method Pros Cons

Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE)

Prior experiments done using CZE for

Cd analysis.

Risk altering results with dilution of

sample. Difficult to get good

measurement.

Potentiometric Stripping Analysis

(PSA)

Used in previous experiments.

Longer time per sample

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Conclusion• Using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy would

be a good technique to analyze the Cadmium content of blood.

• Having a machine with an Autosampler may be more expensive, but it allows for multiple samples to be run faster.

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References1. Center for Disease Control: Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease

Registry. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp.asp?id=48&tid=152. Crouch, Stanley R.; Holler, F. James; Skoog, Douglas A. Principles of

Insrumental Analysis, 6th ed.; Brooks/Cole: Belmont, CA, 2007.3. Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands.

http://www.ecn.nl/docs/society/horizontal/hor20_AAS.pdf 4. Environmental Protection Agency. Technology Transfer Network: Air Toxics

Web Site. http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/cadmium.html#ref1 5. Qualitest International Inc.: Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometers.

http://www.worldoftest.com/wfx-210.htm 6. Weston, Andrea; Brown, Phyllis R.; Jandik, Pter; Jones, william R.;

Heckenberg, Allan L. Factors affecting the separation of inorganic metal cations by capillary electrophoresis. Journal of Chromatography 1992, 593, 289-295.