The spectrochemical analysis of metals in rat molar enamel, femurs and incisors

Abstract

A quantitative a.c. are salt cap method using 20 mg of molar enamel has been devised for the determination of cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc in the range of 1–300 p.p.m. Rat molar enamel in powder form is dissolved in HCl; the resulting solution is dried on graphite electrodes and introduced into an a.c. are discharge. Femurs and incisors are oxidized with nitric acid and treated similarly. Use of an Ilford Q2 ultra-violet sensitive plate has demonstrated greatly improved sensitivity for zinc in this matrix to 0.5 p.p.m. using the 2138.56 Å line. Average precision is within 10 per cent of the amount present. Analytical results are indicated and correlation of metal uptake in enamel with metal-rich diet demonstrated.