Preconcentration and determination of lead and cadmium levels in blood samples of adolescent workers consuming smokeless tobacco products in Pakistan

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment 2015-05, Vol.187 (5), p.309-309, Article 309
• Main Authors: Arain, Sadaf Sadia, Kazi, Tasneem Gul, Afridi, Hassan Imran, Brahman, Kapil Dev, Naeemullah, Khan, Sumaira, Panhwar, Abdul Haleem, Kamboh, Muhammad Afzal, Memon, Jamil R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Age groups; Ammonium; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Atomic absorption spectroscopy; Blood; Blood levels; Boys; Cadmium; Cadmium - blood; Centrifugation; Chelates; Chemistry; Children & youth; Consumption; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Environmental Management; Environmental Monitoring; Hazardous Substances - blood; Humans; Hydrophobicity; Imidazoles - chemistry; Lead; Lead - blood; Liquid Phase Microextraction; Male; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Pakistan; Polyethylene Glycols - chemistry; Pyrrolidines - chemistry; Solvents; Spectral analysis; Spectrometry; Spectrophotometry, Atomic - methods; Teenagers; Thiocarbamates - chemistry; Tobacco; Tobacco, Smokeless - statistics & numerical data; Toxicity; Trace levels
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-015-4543-1

The present study was aimed to evaluate the cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) levels in the blood samples of adolescent boys, chewing different smokeless tobacco (SLT) products in Pakistan. For comparative purpose, boys of the same age group (12–15 years), not consumed any SLT products were selected as referents. To determine trace levels of Cd and Pb in blood samples, a preconcentration method, vortex-assisted liquid–liquid microextraction (VLLME) has been developed, prior to analysis by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The hydrophobic chelates of Cd and Pb with ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate were extracted into the fine droplets of ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, while nonionic surfactant, Triton X-114 was used as a dispersing medium. The main factors affecting the recoveries of Cd and Pb, such as concentration of APDC, centrifugation time, volume of IL and TX-114, were investigated in detail. It was also observed that adolescent boys who consumed different SLT products have 2- to 3-fold higher levels of Cd and Pb in their blood samples as compared to referent boys ( p