NAA characterization of the new Bovine Liver SRM

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is preparing a freeze-dried powdered bovine liver tissue Standard Reference Material (SRM) to replace SRM 1577b Bovine Liver as the stock of this material was exhausted during 2006. Like the original SRM 1577 issued in 1972, this renewal focuses on the key elements for diagnostic, nutritional, and toxicological measurements that are important to medical, veterinary, and environmental sciences investigations. NIST’s approach for value assignment included extensive characterization by neutron activation analysis (NAA). Difficulties in the determination of some elements present at very low levels were overcome by use of radiochemical separations. Twentyone elements were characterized in SRM 1577c by NAA. The previous materials, SRM 1577 and 1577b, served as quality control.