Determination of 14 elements in Taiwanese bones

The objective of this study was to measure the concentration of 14 elements in human bone and investigate the affecting factors. This study aims to es tablish a database of elements in Taiwanese bone. Seventy-seven bone sample s were taken from 70 subjects who were undertaking various bone surgeries f rom a medical center in central Taiwan; Bone samples were pretreated using microwave digestion and then, after determining the optimal conditions for analysis, fourteen elements were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma- Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Results showed that Ca had the high est concentration, followed by Mg and Zn. The lowest concentrations were of Mn, followed by Cd and Co. There was a positive correlation between the fr equency of seafood intake and presence of all the 14 elements in human bone . There were several elements that had positive inter-correlation: As with Co; Al, Ag and Ca; Ni with Co, Mn and Al; Co with Al, Ag and Ca; Mn with Cr and Cu; Cr with Cu; Mg with Ca; Al with Ag and Ca; Ag with Ca; and also Zn with Mg. There were no significant differences found between concentration s of elements and etiology of bone disease and age. The authors suggest tha t further studies be conducted to establish a normal value of elements in h uman bone in Taiwan. This will greatly benefit the understanding of the rel ationship between disease pattern and elements in human bone. (C) 2000 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.