Determination of 236U in environmental samples by single extraction chromatography coupled to triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Guosheng Yang; Hirofumi Tazoe; Masatoshi Yamada

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2016.09.033

Determination of ²³⁶U in environmental samples by single extraction chromatography coupled to triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Anal Chim Acta. 2016 Nov 9:944:44-50. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2016.09.033. Epub 2016 Sep 30.

Authors

Guosheng Yang¹, Hirofumi Tazoe², Masatoshi Yamada³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Chemistry, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8564, Japan; Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing, 100049, China.
² Department of Radiation Chemistry, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8564, Japan.
³ Department of Radiation Chemistry, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8564, Japan. Electronic address: myamada@hirosaki-u.ac.jp.

PMID: 27776638
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2016.09.033

Abstract

In order to measure trace ²³⁶U and ²³⁶U/²³⁸U in environmental samples with a high matrix effect, a novel and simple method was developed that makes the digestion and purification procedures compatible with advanced triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. A total dissolution of sample with HF + HNO₃ + HClO₄ was followed by chromatographic separation with a single resin column containing normal type DGA resin (N,N,N',N'-tetra-n-octyldiglycolamide) as the extractant system. The analytical accuracy and precision of ²³⁶U/²³⁸U ratios, measured as ²³⁶U¹⁶O⁺/²³⁸U¹⁶O⁺, were examined by using the reference materials IAEA-135, IAEA-385, IAEA-447, and JSAC 0471. The low method detection limit (3.50 × 10^-6 Bq kg^-1) makes it possible to perform routine monitoring of environmental ²³⁶U due to global fallout combined with the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident fallout (>10^-5 Bq kg^-1). Finally, the developed method was successfully applied to measure ²³⁶U/²³⁸U ratios and ²³⁶U activities in soil samples contaminated by the accident. The low ²³⁶U/²³⁸U atom ratios ((1.50-13.5) × 10^-8) and ²³⁶U activities ((2.25-14.1) × 10^-2 mBq kg^-1) indicate ²³⁶U contamination was mainly derived from global fallout in the examined samples.

Keywords: (236)U activity; (236)U/(238)U; Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident; Soil; Triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.