ELSEVIER The Science of the Total Environment 198 (1997) 97-103 Determination of copper levels in serum of healthy subjects by atomic absorption spectrometry C. Terrk-Martos, M. Navarro-Alar&n* , F. Martin-Lagos, H. Lopez-G” de la Serrana, M.C. Lbpez-Martinez Department of Nutrition and Bromatology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universi@ of Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain Received 29 October 1996; accepted 5 February 1997 Abstract Copper levels in serum samples of 84 healthy subjects living in southeastern Spain were determined using the flame atomic absorption spectrometrytechnique. Mineralization of samples was carried out with an HNO,/HClO, (4:l) mixture in a thermostatedmineralization block. The accuracyof the method was tested by using a standard reference material. A mean recovery percentage of 104.70% was obtained.The relative standarddeviation (R.S.D.‘I as a measurement of the precisionof the method waslower than 5% in the concentration range considered. Mean copper concentrations were 1.092 &-0.365mg/l (with the range 0.304-2.000mg/l) and 1.113 f 0.253 mg/l (corre- sponding to an interval of 0.648-1.760 mg/l) for women and men, respectively. There are no significantdifferences between the copper levelsin serum according to either sex or geography zone (P > 0.05).For example, there were no differences of copperlevelsin serum of subjects from coastal and mountainous zones. Estimated daily dietary intakes on copper in womenand men were 1.38and 2.10 mg Cu/day respectively. 0 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. Keywords: Serumcopper; Sex and location influence; Atomic absorption spectrometry; Copper intake __-_ 1. Introduction Copper is an essential element whose interest has been increasing in recent years by the role of its deficiency in clinical problems. However, many clinical problems remain unresolved despite an *Corresponding author. Tel.: + 34 58 243863; fax: +- 34 58 243869; e-mail: nalarcon@platon.ugr.es increasing understanding of the physiological role of copper [l]. Copper is an essential element for the human organism, forming part of many copper-depen- dent enzymes and proteins joined to copper 121. Of these enzymes it is important to notice those involved in oxide-reduction processes[3,4], such as superoxide dismutase, lysyl oxidase and cerulo- plasmin, which have an important role in the protection of the organism against free radicals 004%9697/97/$17.00 0 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII SOO48-9697(97) 05448-X