Determination of Specific Activity of Sodium in Bone.

ConclusionA new method for the determination of specific activity of sodium in bone is presented. The method consists of placing a solution of bone ash on a cation exchange column. Elution with acid results in the quantitative recovery of both stable and radioactive sodium in a certain fraction of the eluate; this fraction is free from P, K, Mg and Ca and can be easily analyzed for both sodium and radiosodium.The scintillation counter equipment was made available to us through the kindness of Mr. Russell Hayes of the Medical Division, Atomic Energy Project of the University of Rochester, and the specially adapted flame photometer by Dr. Taft Toribara of the Radiation Biology Division.