PNNL

Abstract

Urine is universally recognized as one of the best non-invasive matrices for biomonitoring exposure to a broad range of xenobiotics including toxic metals. For direct, simple, and field-deployable monitoring of urinary Pb, electrochemical sensors employing superparamagnetic iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles with a surface functionalization of dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) has been developed. The metal detection involves rapid collection of dispersed metal-bound nanoparticles from a sample solution at a magnetic or electromagnetic electrode, followed by the stripping voltammetry of the metal in acidic medium. The sensors were evaluated as a function of solution pH, the binding affinity of Pb to DMSA-Fe3O4, the ratio of nanoparticles per sample volume, preconcentration time, and Pb concentrations. The effect of binding competitions between the DMSA-Fe3O4 and urine constituents for Pb on the sensor responses was studied. After 90s of preconcentration in samples containing 25 vol.% of rat urine and 0.1 g/L of DMSA-Fe3O4, the sensor could detect background level of Pb (