Validation of techniques for elemental analysis in a zoo nutrition lab

Citation

Hellinga DG, Hunt AS, Ward A, Oftedal OT. 1999. Validation of techniques for elemental analysis in a zoo nutrition lab. In Proceedings of the Third Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Columbus, OH.

Abstract

Quantities of minerals in samples such as diets, excreta, and water are a key factor in identifying nutritional needs and thus are an important aspect of laboratory analyses. Perchloric acid digestion with atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) has been a useful and valid method for quantification of physiological levels of minerals. However, recent technology has brought into consideration techniques such as microwave digestion and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES). In this experiment, the calcium and potassium content of five National Institute of Standards & Technology Standard Reference Materials (NBS) and seven plant species were compared using perchloric acid and microwave digestion, analyzed using AAS and ICP-AES techniques. By comparing and contrasting the results of our analysis we have validated each of the tested techniques for precision and accuracy.

12_HELLING.pdf     60 KB