THE VOLATILE CHARACTER OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN BIOMEDICAL SAMPLES AND GUM TISSUE ANALYSES

Abstract

During PIXE analyses of biomedical samples often great damage of the sample occurs. This damage is always combined with mass loss and strong alterations of the initial structure. The loss of mass can be explained by the loss of volatile elements, mainly the major elements Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen. This results in a charge dependency of the element contents and has to be corrected during the data reduction. Here we describe measurements of different samples that monitor the mass loss and the charge dependency of the trace element concentrations. A model was developed to give the correct concentrations after the PIXE analyses. Additionally first results of PIXE analyses of gum tissue are reported. They give direct hints for amalgam residues inside the tissue in pathologically altered areas.