Determination of trace elements and calcium in bone of the human iliac crest by atomic absorption spectrometry

A rapid and reliable analytical method for the determination of trace eleme nts in human bone by atomic absorption spectrometry is reported. Calcium wa s determined to estimate the homogeneity of samples. Human bone from the il iac crest was obtained at autopsy of adult subjects. Before analysis sample s were decomposed by microwave digestion and acid digestion in a Parr bomb. Zinc, rubidium, strontium, calcium and iron, were determined by flame atom ic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and aluminium, copper and lead by electro thermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) at optimum measurement condi tions. The results for the two digestion procedures agreed for zinc, rubidi um and calcium within +/-5%, for copper within +/-7% and for strontium, iro n, aluminium and lead within +/-10%. The repeatability of measurement (R.S. D.) for determination of calcium and trace elements after microwave digesti on and acid digestion in a Parr bomb was tested in one representative autop sy bone sample by six parallel determinations. It was found to be better th an +/-5% either for microwave digested samples or samples digested in a Par r bomb, for all elements determined by FAAS and ETAAS techniques. The accur acy of the applied digestion procedures was checked by analysis of trace el ements in NIST SRM 1486 Bone Meal reference material. Good agreement of the results with certified values was obtained for both digestion procedures. The microwave procedure developed for digestion of small amounts of sample was applied in trace elements analysis of bone biopsy samples from dialysis patients. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.