Mapping the intake of different elements in vegetal tissues by dual-energy X-ray imaging at Dane synchrotron light source

Reale, L.*; Kaiser, J.*; Reale, A.*; Lai, A.*; Flora, F.*; Balerna, A.*; Cinque, G.-F.*; Fanelli, M.*; Ruggieri, F.*; Faenov, A. Y.; Pikuz, T.*; Tucci, A.*; Poma, A.*; Zuppella, P.*; Lika, M.*; Malina, R.*

This article reports on the first utilization of the soft X-ray beamline at the Dane synchrotron light source for mapping the intake of different elements in plant tissues. As a test, the method of dual-energy X-ray microradiography was applied to the investigation of the natural sulfur content in dried leaf and root samples. Our ultimate goal was to monitor the pollutant lead and its intake, which was added in controlled doses to the hydroponic medium of laboratory-controlled samples of vegetal species. The results obtained by the nondestructive X-ray radiographic analysis are compared to the values of concentrations determined by a standard chemical analysisutilizing atomic absorption spectroscopy. From this comparison the validity of the X-ray detection of heavy metals in biological samples has been confirmed. The superposition of the dual energy results on the simple planar radiography shows the representation of the pollutant intake directly on the sample structures.