Determination of Pb-bound ligands in human amniotic fluid by HPSEC-ICP-MS

A method to fractionate the Pb-binding ligands (proteins, amino acids and peptides) in human amniotic fluid is reported. The method combines high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) to fractionate Pb-bound ligands with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for Pb detection and quantification. Using protein standards for HPSEC calibration, several Pb-binding ligands were identified in amniotic fluid that included ceruloplasmin, pre-albumin and a Zn-peptide.