Arsenic Speciation of Arsine-Exposed Blood Samples by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and As-Adduct, A Possible Indicator of AsH3 Exposure

Arsine (AsH 3 )-exposed human blood samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) for arsenic speciation. After exposure of human blood samples to AsH 3 vapor for 90 min at room temperature, partial hemolysis was observed. Plasma samples from these whole blood samples were prepared by centrifugation at 1600 x gfor 10 min and analyzed by HPLC-ICP-MS. In addition to arsenite [As(lll); degraded from AsH 3 ], an unidentified arsenic species (As-adduct) was detected at a retention time of 1.1 min. Following ultrafiltration of the plasma samples using a molecular weight cut-off of 10 kDa, As-adduct was not detected in the filtrate. To clarify the origin of As-adduct, ASH 3 was added to blank plasma and As(lll) was added to both whole blood and hemolyzed blood. Although As(lll) was detected in all samples, As-adduct was not detected. These results indicate that As-adduct was derived from erythrocytes during the process of hemolysis by ASH 3 and further suggest that As(III) and plasma ingredients do not contribute to As-adduct production. Therefore, the presence of As-adduct in blood could represent an indicator of acute arsine poisoning.