Unique possibilities offered by radio-tracers for speciation analysis of trace elements in biological fluids and tissues

Separation analysis of trace elements is the identification and/or measurement of the quantities of one or more individual chemical species in a sample. The general procedure starts with the separation of the species followed by the measurement of trace elements in the different fractions. The identification of the species may be done by UV-detection, mass spectrometry or other techniques. For the development of the methodology, and for in-vivo and in-vitro studies radiotracers are ideally suited. In speciation analysis of trace elements in biological fluids and tissues the search goes on for small inorganic and organometallic compounds, and for metal-protein complexes. (author)