DEVELOPMENT OF THERMOSPRAY INTERFACED HPLC-FAAS SYSTEM FOR STUDIES ONCADMIUM SPECIATION IN HUMAN-BODY FLUIDS

Early work on cadmium speciation of body fluids using GC-AA indicated the presence of CdCl2, but other non-volatile Cd compounds were not de tected (1). Such compounds may be detected by LC-AA. To this end, an H PLC-Flame AA system (FAAS) has been developed using a thermospray. Thi s device greatly increased the sensitivity of the flame CFA system. It s use revealed the presence of numerous non-volatile cadmium compounds in urine and perspiration and confirmed our earlier observation that perspiration is a major process for removing cadmium from the body. Us ing data obtained, the half life of cadmium in the body is about 18 mo nths rather than 20-30 years as currently believed.