@article{WehePieperHoltkampetal.2014, author = {Wehe, Christoph A. and Pieper, Imke and Holtkamp, Michael and Thyssen, Georgina M. and Sperling, Michael and Schwerdtle, Tanja and Karst, Uwe}, title = {On-line species-unspecific isotope dilution analysis in the picomolar range reveals the time- and species-depending mercury uptake in human astrocytes}, series = {Analytical \& bioanalytical chemistry}, volume = {406}, journal = {Analytical \& bioanalytical chemistry}, number = {7}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Heidelberg}, issn = {1618-2642}, doi = {10.1007/s00216-013-7608-4}, pages = {1909 -- 1916}, year = {2014}, abstract = {In order to reveal the time-depending mercury species uptake by human astrocytes, a novel approach for total mercury analysis is presented, which uses an accelerated sample introduction system combined on-line with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer equipped with a collision/reaction cell. Human astrocyte samples were incubated with inorganic mercury (HgCl2), methylmercury chloride (MeHgCl), and thimerosal. After 1-h incubation with Hg2+, cellular concentrations of 3 mu M were obtained, whereas for organic species, concentrations of 14-18 mu M could be found. After 24 h, a cellular accumulation factor of 0.3 was observed for the cells incubated with Hg2+, whereas the organic species both showed values of about 5. Due to the obtained steady-state signals, reliable results with relative standard deviations of well below 5 \% and limits of detection in the concentration range of 1 ng L-1 were obtained using external calibration and species-unspecific isotope dilution analysis approaches. The results were further validated using atomic fluorescence spectrometry.}, language = {en} }