Comparison of Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry With Quantitative Neutron Capture Radiography for the Determination of Boron in Biological Samples From Cancer Therapy

Abstract

A boron-containing compound was administered to tumor-bearing mice and the time-dependent concentration was determined by ICP-AES, ICP-MS and quantitative neutron capture radiography (QNCR). The atomic spectrometric procedures were optimized to minimize analyte losses during microwave digestion. Non-spectroscopic interferences were investigated in detail and appropriate internal standards were established for ICP-MS. The best detection limits achieved for boron were 30 ng ml–1 by ICP-AES and 0.3 ng ml–1 by ICP-MS. The respective determination limits in the digested and diluted tissue samples were 0.4 µg ml–1 and 3 ng ml–1. The results of the spectrometric determinations were confirmed by QNCR of whole-body cryosections of six mice. A brief description of the metabolism of the boron compound is given.