Compton suppression spectrometry for arsenic in biological reference materials

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:552317

Zhang, W H; Chatt, A ^[1]

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1. Dalhousie Univ. (Canada)

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is a very sensitive technique for the determination of arsenic. A sensitivity of nanogram amounts of arsenic can generally be achieved. However, in biological materials of complex chemical composition, the major elements such as bromine, sodium, and potassium can produce high activities resulting in poorer detection limits for arsenic. At sub-parts-per-million (ppm) or parts-per-billion (ppb) levels of arsenic commonly found in biological samples, the 559.1-keV peak of {sup 76}As (half-life = 25.9 h) is particularly interfered with by the 554.3-keV peak of {sup 82}Br (35.3 h) and the 564.1-keV peak of {sup 122}Sb (65.3 h). Modern high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors usually have good enough resolution to resolve these three peaks. However, when the bromine content of the biological sample is high, which is often the case, the tailing of the 554.3-keV peak can mask the 559.1-keV peak of {sup 76}As and can make the detection of the arsenic peak rather difficult, if not impossible. In general, instrumental NAA (INAA) methods can be used to measure arsenic only down to a few ppm levels in biological materials.

• OSTI ID: 552317
• Report Number(s): CONF-971125--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 77; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

40 CHEMISTRY
55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
ARSENIC
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
CALIBRATION STANDARDS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
DETECTION
GAMMA SPECTROMETERS
NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
SENSITIVITY