Abstract: ObjectiveTo establish a method for the determination of Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn in whole blood and analyze the mineral contents in whole blood of healthy induvidials in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province.MethodsA stratified multistage random sampling method was used to select healthy residents aged 25-70 years from 8 counties (cities, districts) in Qingyuan. A method by microwave digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was established and used to detect the contents of 8 minerals in whole blood of the subjects investigated. The data were tested for normality using the Shaprio-Wilk method, then the skewness and kurtosis were also analyzed. Wilcoxon signed rank test used to analyse the difference of mineral contents in whole blood of healthy adults with different genders.ResultsThe linear relationship of each mineral established in this study was good (correlation coefficient >0.999 1). The detection limit of the method was between 0.668 μg/L and 0.013 8 mg/L, and the relative standard deviation, from 0.54% to 6.98%. The contents of 8 minerals in whole blood were not normally distributed. The distributions were negatively skewed for Na, Mg, K, Ca, Fe, and Cu, while skewed for Mn and Zn. Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Cu were in peak distribution while Fe and Zn were flat distribution. There were significant differences in 8 mineral contents in whole blood of healthy adults with different genders (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in 8 mineral contents in whole blood between 2 age groups (all P>0.05) except for blood K and blood Fe in groups aged 25-29 and 30-39 years, blood Cu in groups aged 30-39 and 40-49 years and blood Mg in groups aged 40-49 and 50-59 years.ConclusionThe established method has low detection limit, high accuracy, rapid sample processing and rapid determination, and can meet the determination of minerals in whole blood. The contents of 8 minerals in whole blood of healthy individuals in Qingyuan were not normally distributed and existed gender differences.