A simple method for direct mercury analysis in dried blood spots (DBS) samples for human biomonitoring studies
González-Rubio et al.
The finding, in our words
A new method using a direct mercury analyser allows for precise total mercury measurement in dried blood spot samples while controlling for sample volume. This approach facilitates minimally invasive capillary blood collection, making it highly suitable for human biomonitoring studies in vulnerable populations such as children.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
A 2025 review maps 28 microsampling devices, from dried spots and volumetric absorptive tips to upper-arm liquid capillary collectors, and names what a laboratory must control before their results are used: the haematocrit effect in non-volumetric dried samples, interstitial fluid from finger milking, volume, haemolysis and transport stability. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic ask for the same two things, a device the patient can use safely and a sample fit for the test.
This review of 2022 to 2023 work surveys dried blood microsampling for targeted and untargeted metabolomic and lipidomic profiling, finding the approach viable across paediatric research, therapeutic drug monitoring, metabolite screening, biomarker discovery, sports supervision, clinical disorder studies and forensic toxicology. The authors note that dried blood spots and VAMS dominate the published literature over other volumetric formats, and argue that harmonising analytical methods would accelerate wider clinical adoption of microsampling as an alternative to conventional plasma or serum profiling.
Couacault et al., Analytical science advances · source ↗
Lead can be measured accurately in dried blood spots by ICP-MS only when matrix-matched calibrators are used; aqueous calibrators perform poorly. The three methods evaluated showed strong agreement with whole blood analysis and offer a robust option for decentralised lead screening in children, though the recognised limitations of dried blood spots remain.
Franco et al., Journal of mass spectrometry and advances in the clinical lab · source ↗
This narrative review evaluates microsampling devices for therapeutic drug monitoring, concluding that techniques such as volumetric absorptive microsampling and dried blood spots offer reliable, less invasive alternatives to venous sampling when paired with high-sensitivity mass spectrometry, which supports implementation in routine clinical practice.
This review confirms that dried blood spot sampling with mass spectrometry enables simple preparation and transport of blood for clinical analysis, supporting decentralised diagnostics from newborn screening to therapeutic drug monitoring. Emerging untargeted metabolomics and proteomics applications, plus novel on-paper preparation methods, promise to expand microsampling utility in remote and resource-limited settings.
Skogvold et al., Journal of separation science (paywalled) · source ↗