Flow injection sample pretreatment for the determination of radionuclides in soils by ICP-MS
- Dept. of Energy, Grand Junctions, CO (United States)
The U.S. Department of Energy needs improved analytical methods for alpha- and beta-emitting radionuclides to support environmental restoration and waste management projects. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been used successfully to measure radionuclides with relatively long half-lives, however, ICP-MS used with conventional sample introduction techniques lacks the sensitivity or selectivity to measure shorter lived radionuclides at levels important for environmental monitoring. A new method was developed for measuring {sup 99}Tc, {sup 230}Th, {sup 234}U, and {sup 239}Pu in soils. Samples are dried, ground, and dissolved by fusion. A flow injection (FI) analysis system is used to separate and concentrate the analytes by solid-phase extraction. The FI eluent is pumped directly into the nebulizer of the ICP-MS. The use of FI resulted in greater sensitivity and freedom from interferences compared with direct aspiration. Detection limits are improved by approximately a factor of 10. The FI-ICP-MS method is faster, less labor intensive, and generates less laboratory waste than traditional radiochemical methods. The accuracy of the method was verified by analyzing reference soils.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-86ID12584
- OSTI ID:
- 191661
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941098-; TRN: 95:006733-0017
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: FACSS XXI: 21st annual conference of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS), St. Louis, MO (United States), 2-7 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of 21st annual conference of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies; PB: 257 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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