Researchers from Italy and the UK developed a chromium speciation method for particulate matter that produces accurate results for Cr(VI) even in presence of high concentrations of Cr(III).
Background:Chromium speciation is an extensively studied topic due to the pronounced difference of toxicity of the two most stable oxidation states Cr(III) and Cr(VI). While Cr(III) is considered to play a beneficial role in the metabolism of glucose, Cr(VI) is classified as Group 1 carcinogen. Since chromium is used in many industrial sectors, the potential risk associated with chromium exposure of workers call for critical attention. For a reliable risk assessment, accurate quantification of Cr(VI) in all media workers may be exposed to is mandatory. Unfortunately, accurate chromium speciation analysis is hampered by easy interconversion between Cr(III) and Cr(VI) during the different steps of analysis such as sample collection, extraction and separation. Such interconversion is especially critical, when samples do contain high amounts of Cr(III), which is the case in the leather industry where Cr(III) is used for tanning. Cr-tanned leather contains up to 3-5% Cr(III), resulting in high Cr content of air particulates resulting from leather shavings. Accurate determination of Cr(VI) in such samples is very challenging, since the slightest oxidation of Cr(III) during analysis might compromise the speciation analysis.
In the framework of occupational safety and health, the classical approach for exposure assessment is based on the active personal sampling of airborne particles and subsequent analysis to determine the Cr(VI) levels. Within the EU, the Occupational Exposure Limit set under Directive 2017/2398 is 10 µg/m3 (8-h time-weighted average) until January 17, 2025; after that period the OELV will be limited to 5 µg/m3. The current official methods for the determination of Cr(VI) in such samples are the ISO 16740:2005 standard, NIOSH 7600-7605, and OSHA ID-215. All three protocols are similar with respect to use PVC filters for sample collection, alkaline extraction at 95°C and colorimetric detection using 1,5-diphenylcarbazide. While the methods are meant to selectively leach Cr(VI), bias produced by interconversion of Cr(III) during extraction has been observed.
The new study:In view of these problems, researchers from Italy and the UK aimed at the development of an alternative protocol. They started with the use of a liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry apparatus (LC-ICP-MS), adapting an original separation strategy based on Cr(OH)3 head-column stacking in order to tolerate high concentration of Cr(III) up to 10 mg/kg, followed by separation on an anionic column. A species-specific isotope-enriched spike addition technique for both oxidation states of chromium was used that allowed for the study of Cr(III)/Cr(VI) interconversions during the extraction step. Detection was based on ICP-MS operated in the Kinetic Energy Discrimination (KED) mode, using He as collision gas, resulting in a limit of detection of 0.51 µg/kg.
Using this method, it was verified that the official extraction protocols always yield false positive values for samples collected in the leather industrial environment. In order to avoid interconversion during extraction as much as possible, a novel procedure was developed based on a 48-h extraction at room temperature using a pH-8 phosphate buffer. It was verified that even insoluble chromates are quantitatively extracted after 48 h. In order to avoid redox reactions induced by coextracted reductants or oxidants, the authors added a Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox buffer to the extracts. Using the developed protocol, occupational exposure samples were analysed. All obtained results for Cr(VI) were below the limit of quantification.
The authors concluded that their method has been proven to be very robust in the challenging case study of leather industries.
The original study
Andrea Spinazzč, Davide Spanu, Pietro Della Bella, Cristina Corti, Francesca Borghi, Giacomo Fanti, Andrea Cattaneo, William Robert Wise, Stefan John Davis, Domenico Maria Cavallo, Sandro Recchia,
On the Determination of Cr(VI) in Cr(III)-Rich Particulates: From the Failure of Official Methods to the Development of an Alternative Protocol. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 19 (2022) 12111.
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191912111
Instrumentation used:
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last time modified: September 18, 2024
