Bone elemental composition

Trueman, C.N., Behrensmeyer, A.K., Potts, R. and Tuross, N. (2006). High-resolution records of location and stratigraphic provenance from the rare earth element composition of fossil bones. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 70 4343 1355. 

Reiche, I., Favre-Quattropani, L., Calligaro, T., et al. (1999). Trace element composition of archaeological bones and postmortem alteration in the burial environment. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 150 656-662. 

I. Reiche, L. Favre-Quattropani, T. Calligaro, J. Salomon, H. Bocherens, L. Charlet, M. Menu, Trace element composition of archaeological bones and post-mortem alteration in the burial environment, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B150 (1999) 656-662. 

Laser ablation ICP-MS can be used to obtain spatial maps of elemental composition in tissues. In one study [253], LA-ICP-MS was used for elemental tagging of fish scales, rat kidney cross sections, and examination of the blood/ bone interface in a pig femur. Ca and Mg were used as natural internal standards. 

The analysis of archaeological bone presents several problems which are encountered to a much lesser degree in the analysis of inorganic substances where often a discrete source is involved and where the matrix is not as open to contamination by the depositional environment. Nevertheless, bone is one of the most commonly found archaeological materials, and any inferences made from its trace elemental composition would certainly be useful. We relate herein our experiences with the trace element analysis of archaeological bone, the problems encountered in these analyses, and some of the conclusions that we have reached as the result of our measurements. 

We have analyzed the chemical composition of soil surrounding the femurs office human skeletons buried during the Middle Woodland Period in west-central Illinois in order to document the movement of specific chemical elements between soil and bone. The use of elemental composition of bone as a measure of ancient diet is predicated on the absence of appreciable elemental flux between soil and bone. 

TRACE ELEMENTS IN LIVING BONE Trace element composition of bone... 

Trace element composition of ancient bone Archaeological applications... 

The Biomineralization section begins with a summary of the current state of research on bone, dentin and enamel phosphates, a topic that crosses disciplines that include mineralogical, medical, and dental research. The following two chapters treat the stable isotope and trace element compositions of modern and fossil biogenic phosphates, with applications to paleontology, paleoclimatology, and paleoecology. 

XPS is used to analyze the elemental composition of polymer surfaces. In this technique, the sample is irradiated with a high-energy monochromatic X-ray and the core level electrons ejected from the sample (called photoelectrons) are detected. The energy of the photoelectrons ejected from the sample depends on the elements present on the sample surface. PGA scaffolds are used in bone tissue engineering, and in order to improve the osteoconduction of the PGA scaffold, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles are coated on the polymer. XPS is a reliable method to verify the deposition of HA nanoparticles on PGA surface [37]. AES is more surface-sensitive than XPS. In this technique, a beam... 

FIGURE 32.3 (See color insert.) Bi-phasic nanofiber scaffold for tendon-to-bone integration, (a) Cross-section of the bi-phasic scaffold (lOOOx, bar = 50 tm). Insert Elemental composition of the two phases, calcium (Ca) and phosphorous (P) present only in Phase B. (b) Matrix deposition on bi-phasic scaffold after 3 weeks of subcutaneous implantation in athymic rats (Collagen—picrosirius red, Proteoglycan—Aldan blue. Mineral—Von Kossa 20x, bar = 100 pm). (From Moffat, K. L. et al. 2010. Transactions of the 56th Orthopaedic Research Society. New Orleans, LA.)... 

Recognition among bone-chemistry researchers that strontium enters bone in proportion to dietary levels has resulted in widely accepted yet erroneous inferences about the relationships among various elements in bone and past diet. One such inference is that more of any element in the diet translates directly to more of that element in bone. If an element is not biogenically incorporated within bone, or if biological levels are metabolically controlled, then that element will not reflect diet. A second erroneous inference is that strontium can be used to measure the dietary plant/meat ratio. Sr/Ca ratios in meat are generally lower than those of plants, but meat is also low in calcium and hence has little effect on the composition of bone. Plants, on the other hand, contribute substantially to bone composition. Variations in the strontium levels of bone thus more likely reflect differential consumption of plants rather than trophic position. Although efforts to determine plant/meat ratios from strontium and to draw dietary inferences from elements other than strontium and barium have not been successful, this failure has been due to inappropriate expectations, not to a failure of bone strontium to reflect diet. 

---