Instrumental neutron activation analysis of blood serum

Instrumental neutron activation analysis has been used to determine 15 trace elements in twelve blood serum samples taken from healthy students at Bilkent University in Ankara. The method allowed the determination of Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, Se, Rb, Cs, Ce, Eu, Tb, Hf, Ta and Hg, which occur at the g.ml^–1 to ng.ml^–1 levels. There are no values reported for Tb, Hf, Ce, Eu and Ta before. The other results are compared with the values reported in the literature. Most are in the range of the reported values except for Fe, Zn, Se and Cs.