Comparison of Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry With Quantitative Neutron Capture Radiography for the Determination of Boron in Biological Samples From Cancer Therapy

A boron-containing compound was administered to tumor-bearing mice and the time-dependent concentration was determined by ICP-AES, ICP-MS and quantitative neutron capture radiography (QNCR). The atomic spectrometric procedures were optimized to minimize analyte losses during microwave digestion. Non-spectroscopic interferences were investigated in detail and appropriate internal standards were established for ICP-MS. The best detection limits achieved for boron were 30 ng ml–1 by ICP-AES and 0.3 ng ml–1 by ICP-MS. The respective determination limits in the digested and diluted tissue samples were 0.4 µg ml–1 and 3 ng ml–1. The results of the spectrometric determinations were confirmed by QNCR of whole-body cryosections of six mice. A brief description of the metabolism of the boron compound is given.