The Analysis of Biological Materials Using Proton Induced X-Ray Emission Analysis

Abstract

Proton induced x-ray emission analysis (PIXE) has developed as a useful analytical technique during the last decade. It has provided a successful tool in qualitative and quantitative analysis of trace elements. It is now widely used in various fields to find the unknown constituents and their amount in a sample. Investigation of the quantitative detection of the elements in the biological material is an area of interest, particularly due to the presence of dietary essentials and non-essentials, including toxic elements in body fluids and tissues. Study of materials of biomedical origin have been reported extensively by this technique. A method of target preparation for biological specimens has been developed and investigated in the present work. The limits of reproducibility and homogeneity of the targets have been examined. A thin target mounting system has been designed to study the reproducibility for metallic foils and biological targets. Doped target deposits of standard material Bovine liver (SRM-1577) issued by the National Bureau of Standards (N.8.S.) have been used to compare the concentration of internal standard, with the amount of trace elements present in the material. Trace elements in a bio-environmental material "SALAJEET" from Northern Pakistan have been identified and discussed. Other biological materials such as pasteurised milk, human whole blood, sheep's liver and kidney, have also been studied. The quantitative measurements made for the standard material (NBS-1577), bovine liver, have been compared with the measurements of other workers, and agree well. This justifies the technique for the target preparation and the use of target rotary system.