Abstract
Microbeam analysis is used in biomedical and environmental sciences to determine the presence and concentration of trace elements. However, quantitative analyses of biological samples are challenging because the chemical and physical compositions of existing standards differ from those typically encountered in biological samples. We developed a thin standard using polyvinyl alcohol and assessed its quality by microbeam scanning particle induced X-ray emission (micro-PIXE) analysis. The relationship between metal concentration and X-ray intensity was linear for certain standards up to 500 μg·g−1. Using this new thin standard, micro-PIXE analysis of Zn content in samples of human hair agreed well with analysis performed by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry, validating the use of these new thin standards for quantitative mapping with microbeam analysis.
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