Abstract:
A method used for the determination of Cu, Mn, Zn, Na and K in Human Whole Blood (HWB) is described. The sample of freeze-dried HWB is irradiated in a swimming pool reactor for an hour with a pneumatic transport system. The neutron flux of irradiation is about (1-2) ×1012 n/cm2·s. The chemical spectrum-stripping procedure with two HAP column to remove Na and K respectively is reported in detail. The samples of 27 normal HWB and 41 leucocythemia patients HWB are analysed and the results are reported.In order to correct the effect of interfering reaction, 56Fe (n,p)56Mn, induced by reactor fast neutron, the Fe-foil is irradiated with and without Cd-cover and measured in the same condition, thus, the results of Mn content in these samples are corrected. For examining the accuracy of this method, a standard reference material, bovine liver (NBS-SRM-1577), is analysed. The results are in good agreement with NBS's value. The sensitivity of this method is high. The detection limits for Cu, Mn, Zn, Na and K are 1.2×10-8 g; 5.7×10-10g; 1.0×10-6g; 1.5×10-9g; 5.8×10-7g, respectively (after removing the matrix activity 24Na only) and 1.6×10-9g; 5.6×10-11 g; 1.3×10-7g for Cu, Mn and Zn, respectively (after removing the activity of both 24Na and 42K).