Simultaneous determination of iron, copper and zinc concentrations in skin phantoms using XRF spectrometry

Abstract X‐ray fluorescence analysis was used to determine the concentrations of iron, copper and zinc in skin phantoms. The system used consisted of a high‐output tungsten target x‐ray tube and a germanium secondary target, the fluorescence from which was used to excite the elements in the sample. Calibration models were constructed in order to allow quantitative predictions of metal concentrations, with spectral analysis performed using the Marquardt method of non‐linear least‐squares fitting. For an acquisition time of 2000 s, minimum detectable concentrations of <10 µg g −1 for iron and <5 µg g −1 for copper and zinc were measured. These values are comparable to the levels encountered in healthy human skin. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.