Ultratrace elements definition

An outstanding feature of inorganic mass spectrometry is its determination of precise and accurate isotopic abundances and isotope ratios. Isotopes of the same element (of the same number of protons or atomic number of element, Z) are, by definition, nuclides with different mass m and mass number A (A = Z + N) due to the different number of neutrons (N) in the nucleus. Isotope analyses are of special interest for characterizing the composition of samples with respect to stable and unstable isotopes in quite different concentration ranges - from the analysis of matrix elements down to the trace and ultratrace concentration level.1-9 Of 1700 isotopes, nearly 16 % (264 isotopes) are stable. The chemical elements Tc, Pm, Th, U and the transuranic elements do not possess stable isotopes. 

The boundaries of trace analysis are described by the definition of trace element in the IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd edition Any element having an average concentration of less than about 100 parts per million atoms and less than 100pg g As analytical techniques have become more sophisticated and detection capabilities have improved, this upper boundary of the definition of trace is now so far away from the capabilities of analysis in a number of fields that new terms such as ultratrace analysis have entered common parlance. There is no agreement, however, on the range of ultratrace analysis, and this term has no rigorous definition. In the literature, the term is used to define the presence of elements at mass fractions less than 10 6 and 10 8 (1 pg g 1 and 0.01 pg g ) ... 

Essential and Nonessential Metals. It is well known that elements in the biological systems may vary a great deal in their concentration from organ to organ and from species to species, but for the purpose of this chapter, the following classification of elemental concentrations has been adopted (17) major, > 1% minor, 0.10-1% micro, 0.01-0.1% trace, 0.01-0.001% ultratrace, < 0.001%. Since total copper in the average, "standard man (18) is approximately 150 mg (2), its classification would fall between trace and ultratrace concentration. However, as is the case with any other element, what is a trace in one organ may be an ultratrace in another, but for serum copper concentration, which is about 100 /xg%, the definition of copper as an ultratrace metal by the above classification may not be justifiable. If the criteria of the "standard man is taken into account, however, the definition seems appropriate. 

---