SILICON DETERMINATION FOR NUTRITION WITH RESONANCE IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY

SILICON MAY HAVE METABOLIC ROLES IN ATHEROSCLEROTIC DISORDERS, CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND BONE FORMATION, MORPHOGENESIS IN PRIMITIVE CELLS AND THE AGING PROCESS. HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE ROLE OF SILICON IN HUMAN NUTRITION AND METABOLISM. THE ABSENCE OF A RELIABLE ANALYTICAL TOOL FOR TRACE AND ULTRA-TRACE ELEMENTAL AND ISOTOPIC DETERMINATIONS HAS BEEN A MAJOR IMPEDIMENT TO THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LASER RESONANCE IONIZATION HAVE PRODUCED A UNIQUE ANALYTICAL TOOL - RESONANCE IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY (RIMS) - TO PERMIT THE MICRODETERMINATION OF SILICON IN BIOLOGICAL TISSUES AND FLUIDS. RIMS IS PROPOSED TO IONIZE SILICON SENSITIVELY AND SELECTIVELY IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHER ELEMENTS AND IMPURITIES, FOLLOWED BY QUANTITATION WITH ISOTOPE DILUTION AS AN INTERNAL STANDARD. THE TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES FOR PHASE I ARE: 1) TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE A PROCESS TO ATOMIZE ULTRA-TRACE QUANTITIES OF SILICON; 2) TO DEVELOP AND APPLY A RESONANCE IONIZATION SCHEME FOR THE SELECTIVE AND SENSITIVE IONIZATION OF SILICON IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHER ELEMENTS AND IMPURITIES; 3) TO DETERMINE, WITH MINIMUM CHEMICAL PRETREATMENT, ULTRA-TRACE QUANTITIES OF SILICON IN SELECTED BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL BRIDGE TO PERMIT THE APPLICATION OF SILICON DETERMINATIONS TO SPECIFIC PROBLEMS IN NUTRITION AND METABOLISM. THE TECHNOLOGY WILL BE APPLICABLE TO THE DETERMINATION OF NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS, PARTICULARLY FOR THE AGED, AND POTENTIALLY TO THE DIAGNOSIS AND SCREENING OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC DISORDERS. OTHER APPLICATIONS WOULD BE FOR RELIABLE SILICON DETERMINATIONS IN OTHER NATURAL MATERIALS, STEELS AND RELATED HIGH-TECH MATERIALS.