Measurements of natural levels of 14C in human's and rat's tissues by accelerator mass spectrometry in Korea

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is the most sensitive, safe and precise analytical method for quantifying long-lived isotope in biomedical research with animals as well as human beings. In Korea, AMS Laboratory has been operating successfully for years measuring especially archaeological samples for 14C dating. In this year, a biological sample pretreatment facility was setup to work on biomedical applications. As a preliminary study, we have measured the natural background levels of 14C in tissues and blood of humans and rats have been measured. The results were agreed with the other reported levels and gave stable and reproducible results within 1-2%. (author)