Determination of Major (Ca, P) and Trace (Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Fe) Elements in Biogenic Apatite Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES)

Abstract

The major and trace elements in fossil phosphate biominerals are able to retain information both about the environment during the life of the organism and the conditions, time and scale of diagenetic changes in the palaeoenvironmental signal during its burial. The study of the macro- and microelement composition of bone and dental tissues of humans and animals is extremely important in biomedical, ecological, archaeological, palaeoecological, palaeontological and taphonomical studies. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) are widely applied in the analysis of the bioapatite elemental composition. In the present article the methodology for determining trace (Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Fe) as well as major (Ca, P) elements by ICP-AES in biogenic apatite samples of bone and dental tissue of fossil and contemporary humans and animals has been described. The sample dissolution scheme is proposed using HNO3 and H2O2 upon heating that provides solid apatite transfer into solution and its separation from the organic matrix with minimal contamination from the reagents used. Its accuracy and correctness is confirmed by the NIST SRM 1400 standard reference material of bone ash. Using the developed technique, a number of samples of contemporary human bone tissue, as well as fossil bone and dental tissue of humans and animals from the Bronze Age fortified settlements and burials of the Southern Urals have been studied.