Low level determination of (226)Ra in water using a micro-precipitate track method for large-scale environmental monitoring

J Radiol Prot. 2009 Dec;29(4):535-43. doi: 10.1088/0952-4746/29/4/008. Epub 2009 Nov 18.

Abstract

In the present paper a method has been developed for the determination of (226)Ra in water by the detection, using a solid-state nuclear track detector (SSNTD), of alpha particles from (226)Ra in equilibrium with (222)Rn in micro-precipitates collected on a filter. The micro-precipitates were prepared from environmental water samples by collection of radium with lead as Pb/RaSO(4). Several factors affect the (226)Ra precipitation on the filter and its recovery, in particular the filter pore size. Therefore in this experiment Whatman #42 and Millipore filters with different pore sizes were used. Using a 0.45 microm Millipore filter, the recovery efficiency was increased up to 96%, and the alpha self-absorption and scattering decreased remarkably. For efficient detection of alphas from (226)Ra/(222)Rn in equilibrium, three types of SSNTD were used-polycarbonate (PC) electrochemically etched (ECE), CR-39 and LR-115 chemically etched (CE). By preparing a standard micro-precipitate on a filter with known (226)Ra/(222)Rn characteristics, the calibration response of each detector and its minimum detection limit (MDL) were determined.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Fractional Precipitation / instrumentation*
  • Fractional Precipitation / methods
  • Microchemistry / instrumentation*
  • Radiation Monitoring / instrumentation*
  • Radon / analysis*
  • Water / chemistry*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Water
  • Radon