Determination of gold and platinum traces in biological materials as a part of a multielement radiochemical activation analysis system

For the analysis of human tissues for traces of gold an platinum - being used as constituents of therapeutic agents - a radiochemical neutron activation method has been developed. The radiochemical separation involves the selective removal of radioactive gold - formed by the reaction super(197)Au9n, gamma ) super(198)Au and the reaction platinum is carried out as a part of an automated multi-element radiochemical separation scheme, allowing the determination of about 20 additional trace elements, and thus giving the possibility to study interelement relations. The analytical characteristics of the determination are evaluated. Gold and platinum levels measured in Bowen's Kale, NBS Bovine Liver and NBS Orchard Leaves are presented. Values are shown for gold, platinum, and 20 other trace elements in various healthy and cancerous tissues from patients treated with cis-platin.