A new method for relative Sr determination in human teeth enamel.

ABSTRACT

We present a new method to determine Sr/Ca changes in hard dental tissues based on laser ablation and spectroscopic detection. By using femtosecond Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (fs-LIBS), we micro mapped the relative amount of strontium in the enamel of three human lower third molar. We also analyzed the Sr/Ca ratio along the striae of Retzius. Results show that microlibs allows detection of variation in relative Sr/Ca ratio through enamel. The same values of Sr/Ca ratio were found along a single stria. The method has a precision better than 95% and is sensitive enough to detect Sr/Ca ratio variations among striae and within stria. Fs-LIBS generates information in a fast and simple way that can be used by non-specialists to make inferences about diet or mobility in human populations and fossil hominids.