Determination of Manganese in Whole Blood by Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry with Indium Tin Oxide

Manganese (Mn) is a required trace metal in the body. In recent years however, it has garnered significant attention as a developmental neurotoxin in children with chronic exposure. It has been linked to complications such as memory loss with negatively associated IQ scores, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and in extreme cases, the development of a Parkinson's disease analogue-manganism. Cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) has proven to be a suitable method for electroanalytical determination of Mn. We have established Mn CSV using indium tin oxide (ITO) as the working electrode for the determination of Mn in bovine whole blood after an acid digestion. Reliable, accurate, and precise results were obtained, as only 9% variation in the digested blood was observed. The CSV results were compared with graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GF-AAS) and inductively coupled plasmamass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and favorable agreement across the methods was observed. Due to ITO's excellent positive potential window and stability under harsh environments, this method could be applied to other oxide-forming transition metals detectable by CSV