Measurement of liver-cadmium concentrations in patients and industrial workers by neutron-activation analysis

A new, rapid, non-invasive technique for measuring tissue-cadmium concentrations in patients and industrial workers has been designed and developed with a view to studying the cadmium content of the liver. The method utilises the principle of neutron-activation analysis whereby the specific changes produced by the inter action of nuclei and neutrons are analysed. Liver-cadmium content has been studied in cadavers and in four men with known of suspected cadmium poisoning. The patients all showed very high liver-cadmium levels of between 35 and 200 p.p.m. compared with under 1.0 p.p.m. in non-exposed subjects. The dose of radiation used in clinical studies was 0.4-1.0 rem and the detection limit of cadmium was 1.0 p.p.m.