Abstract
The nuclear microprobe at the 5.5 MeV Van de Graaff accelerator of the Swedish Natural Science Research Council Laboratory at Studsvik, Sweden, has been applied to assess the effects of environmental, occupational and internal exposure to heavy metals. The studies were mainly devoted to trace variations in the distributions of heavy metals laterally in mineralized tissues. The spectroscopic techniques encountered comprised PIXE and PIGE (particle-induced gamma-ray emission) in a combined mode. The distributions were established with a positional resolution of 15–20 μm. In the case of compact bone, the technique made possible the establishment of concentration profiles within individual osteons, the structural units of the tissue. Human enamel tissue was simultaneously probed for surface concentrations of several elements ranging from phosphorus to lead and the depth distribution of fluorine, the resolution of which was better than 0.7 μm.
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