Analysis methods and reference concentrations of 12 minor and trace elements in fish blood plasma

A comprehensive review of the analytical literature revealed substantial under-representation of trace element concentrations in fish blood, particularly for marine species. We describe a simple dilution procedure to measure Li, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr, Ba and Pb concentrations in low volumes of blood plasma of adult plaice ( Pleuronectes platessa) using high resolution-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS). Captive male and female plaice ( n= 18) were serially sampled for one year and samples collected outside of the spawning season ( n= 157) used to estimate reference ranges for this species. Method accuracy was deemed satisfactory, based on its application to the analysis of a certified reference material. Precision was generally <3%, with the most conservative measure of precision being ≤10% for all elements except Pb (~20%). This is the first study to analyse fish blood plasma by ICP-MS and includes some of the first reference ranges for trace element concentrations in fish blood.