5. Conclusion

were determined. The authors identified three different groups of rocks—the samples from the northern part were made of dolomite rocks, and those from the middle and southern part are

Contis [25] has measured the concentration of Se, V, As, Hg and Cd in the water from thermal springs using NAA. The study was carried out to understand the effect of thermal springs in the eastern Aegean Sea in Greece, Ikaria, on drinking water from sources near and far from the spring. The measured concentration of the elements did not show statistically significant

NAA is used in different applications in medicine and has made inroads in the newer areas. Trace elements have important bearing on the physiological and biochemical processes, and relative abundance and balance of different elements in trace quantities strongly influence the occurrence and advancement of many diseases. Estimation of trace element concentration in breast cancer, skin cancer, colorectal cancer, dysfunction and malignancy of thyroid gland has been done using neutron activation followed by high-resolution gamma spectrometric studies. NAA is one of the preferred choices for trace- and ultra-trace-level quantitative estimation as it is a highly accurate, precise and reproducible method even for measurements to the ppm and

Concentration of Ca, Cu, Co, I, Mg, Se, Fe, Zn, Hg, Ba and Cr at the trace level in the malignant tissues of colorectal cancer was determined through NAA by H. Arriola et al. [26]. The study was carried out for patients from Mexican population. The results were compared with those obtained for normal tissues in the same population. It was observed that the amount of Co, Fe,

NAA was used to estimate the concentration of Al, K, Na, CI, Rb, Co, Sc, Mn, Mg, Se, Zn, Cs, Fe and Cr in the patients of breast cancer in Sudanese population (Ammar Mubark Ebrahim A M, 2003) [27]. Though the number of patients studied was only 80, it was found that the amount of Al, Mg, Cr, Mn, Se and Zn is higher in the malignant tissues compared to the normal tissue. In this work the author has observed variation in the levels of K, Na, Fe, Co,

Rees et al. [28] have used INAA to detect and measure the arsenic content in the toenail of the skin cancer patients. Tissues from both basal skin carcinoma (BCS) and squamous cell carci-

Zaichick and Zaichick [29] have studied the changes in trace element concentration in the cancerous human prostate gland. They have used INAA to measure the concentration of 43 trace elements and compared the results for malignant, benign hypertrophic and normal prostate. Of the 43 elements measured, concentration of 33 elements in the malignant prostate is higher than that in the benign hypertrophic tissue. For the elements Co, Hg, Rb, Sc, Se and

noma (SCC) were examined from the patients of non-melanoma skin cancer.

mainly made of limestone.

ppb level.

variation from that due to natural background.

22 Advanced Technologies and Applications of Neutron Activation Analysis

I and Ba changes due to incidence of colorectal cancer.

Sc, Rb and Cs but to a much lesser extent.

4. Neutron activation in medicine

Neutron activation analysis is one of the preferred techniques for quantitative analysis of different types of samples and has thus found wide application. It is a highly accurate method and can reliably be applied for measurement of concentration of elements at the trace and ultratrace level. We have discussed how NAA, particularly INAA, can be used for determination of elemental concentration of rocks and other geological formation. The analysis provides information about the geological formation of the region. Moreover, rock samples may be used as coarse aggregates in cement or concrete in the biological shield of a nuclear installation. NAA of the rock samples helps the researcher to estimate the long-lived activity that may be developed in the shield due to long-term operation. This study helps to plan the management of radioactive waste after decommissioning of the facility. NAA of rock samples from Rajasthan, India, carried out by Acharya et al. has helped to understand the formation of natural emeralds. NAA has important contribution in medicine: biochemically significant elements in trace amount can be effectively quantified using INAA. Variation in elemental composition induced by various diseases, particularly for malignant tissues, can be quantified using INAA. NAA with associated particle imaging (API) is a prospective tool for elemental analysis to monitor the growth of an animal in response to new genetic, pharmacologic procedure. The inherent high accuracy of NAA will offer it as one of the preferred techniques for elemental analysis at the ultra-trace level in human body fluid to follow the biochemical baseline values or the changes therein due to diseases.

[6] Medhat ME, Fayez-Hassan M. Elemental analysis of cement used for radiation shielding by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Nuclear Engineering and Design. 2011;

Neutron Activation Analysis: Application in Geology and Medicine

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76726

25

[7] Nazarov VM, Frontasyeva MV, Lavdanskij PA, Stephanov NI. NAA for optimization of radiation shielding of nuclear power plants. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear

[8] Alden JR, Minc L, Lynch TF. Identifying the sources of Inka period ceramics from northern Chile: Results of a neutron activation study. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2006;33(4):

[9] Huckell BB, Kilby JD, Boulanger MT, Glascock MD. Sentinel Butte: Neutron activation analysis of White River Group chert from a primary source and artifacts from a Clovis cache in North Dakota, USA. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2011;38(5):965-976. DOI:

[10] Michelsen OB, & Steinnes E. Determination of copper in geological material by neutron activation and gamma-gamma coincidence spectrometry. Talanta. 1968;15(6):574-578. DOI:

[11] Ravisankar R, Eswaran P, Seshaderssan NP, Rao B. Instrumental neutron activation analysis of beachrock samples of South East Coast of Tamilnadu, India. Nuclear Science and

[12] Ravisankar R, Manikandan E, Dheenathayalu M, Rao B, Seshadreesan NP, Nair KGM. Determination and distribution of rare earth elements in beach rock samples using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Nuclear instruments and methods in physics research section B: Beam interactions with materials and atoms. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B. 2006;251(2):496-500. DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2006.07.021

[13] Acharya RN, Mondal RK, Burte PP, Nair AGC, Reddy NBY, Reddy LK, Manohar SB. Multi-element analysis of emeralds and associated rocks by ko neutron activation analysis. Applied Radiation and Isotopes. 2000;53(6):981-986. DOI: 10.1016/S0969-8043(99)00272-9

[14] El-Taher A, Alharbi A. Elemental analysis of natural quartz from Um Higlig, Red Sea Aea, Egypt by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Applied Radiation and Isotopes. 2013;

[15] El-Taher A. Elemental analysis of granite by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF). Applied Radiation and Isotopes. 2012;

[16] El-Taher A. Rare-earth elements in Egyptian granite by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Applied Radiation and Isotopes. 2007;65(4):458-464. DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.

[17] El-Taher A. Determination of chromium and trace elements in El-Rubshi chromite from Eastern Desert, Egypt by neutron activation analysis. Applied Radiation and Isotopes.

Techniques. 2007;18(4):204-211. DOI: 10.1016/S1001-8042(07)60047-5

241(6):2138-2142. DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2011.03.025

Chemistry. 1994;180(1):83-95. DOI: 10.1007/BF02039906

575-594. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2005.09.015

10.1016/j.jas.2010.11.011

10.1016/0039-9140(68)80135-3

82:67-71. DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.07.002

2006.07.014

70(1):350-354. DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.09.008

2010;68(9):1864-1868. DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2010.04.018
