Electrochemical Determination of Manganese in Whole Blood with Indium Tin Oxide Electrode

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate accurate and precise measurement of manganese (Mn) concentration in human whole blood with indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode using square wave stripping voltammetry. While an essential trace metal for human health, elevated levels of Mn due to environmental or occupational exposure have been associated with severe neuromotor dysfunction characterized by parkinsonism and cognitive dysfunction making the monitoring of Mn in whole blood necessary. Pediatric populations are particularly susceptible to Mn given their developing brain and potential long-term impacts on neurodevelopment. The current gold standard for whole blood Mn measurements is by ICP-MS, which is costly and time consuming. The electrochemical detection with ITO working electrode in this work showed a limit of detection of 0.5 μg l−1 and a linear range of 5 to 500 μg l−1, which encompasses the physiological Mn levels in human whole blood (5–18 μg l−1). Our results of Mn measurement in whole blood show an average precision of 96.5% and an average accuracy of 90.3% compared to ICP-MS for both the normal range (5–18 μg l−1) and the elevated levels (>36 μg l−1) that require medical intervention. These results demonstrate the feasibility of Mn measurements in human blood with electrochemical sensors.