Radiochemical neutron activation analysis of biological materials: Past, present and future

The contribution of radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RCNAA) to tr ace-element analysis of biological materials in the last decades is outline d. Presently, the use of RCNAA is declining since various powerful non-nucl ear techniques for trace-element analysis have become available, strongly c ompeting with RCNAA. This necessitates a re-evaluation of the position of R CNAA versus other analytical techniques for trace element analysis of biolo gical materials. On the basis of the characteristic features of RCNAA and t he capabilities of competing non-nuclear analytical techniques, possible fu ture niches for RCNAA in the analytical market are indicated.