Development of a hybrid analytical method and an application of heavy metals combining elemental imaging and local speciation for environmental toxicology

Abstract

To simultaneously obtain the information for the speciation and spatial distribution of elements, we developed a novel hybrid technique consisting of quantitative imaging by laser ablation (LA)-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and speciation by HPLC hyphenated with ICP-MS (LC-ICP-MS). Then, an application of this analytical technique was evaluated in vivo. Methylmercury or mercuric chloride were administered to rats, and continuous sections of the kidney were prepared. The speciation and distribution of mercury (Hg) differed, and the differences depended on Hg species.