Method intercomparison for the analysis of 239/240Pu in human urine

Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

“…160 A method comparison showed that ICP-SFMS achieved better limits of detection for 239 Pu (0.21 mBq L À1 ) and for 240 Pu (0.19 mBq L À1 ) than ICP-QMS or alpha spectrometry. 161 Fission products in nuclear samples were determined using capillary electrophoresis coupled to ICP-SFMS by Pitois et al 162 A sensitive analytical method for determining the artificial radionuclides 90 Sr, 239 Pu and 240 Pu at ultratrace levels in groundwater samples from the Semipalatinsk Test Site area in Kazakhstan by ICP-SFMS was developed by Zoriy et al 163 The measurements were performed at medium mass resolution under cold plasma conditions in order to avoid possible spectral interferences at m/z ¼ 90 for the determination of 90 Sr (e.g. 90 ).…”

Inductively coupled plasma- and glow discharge plasma-sector field mass spectrometry : Part II. Applications

“…Lariviere et al used an ICP-SFMS-based method with a separation from alkaline earth elements and obtained a method detection limit of 0.19 pgL À1 for Ra, equivalent to 7 mBq L À1 . 204 ICP-SFMS was used to quantify 239 Pu in faeces 205 207 Fission products in nuclear samples were determined by Pitois et al 208 using capillary electrophoresis coupled to ICP-SFMS. A comparison between ICP-SFMS and quadrupole ICP-MS resulted again in lower limits of detection for sector field instrumentation (4 pg mL À1 for Cs and 7 pg mL À1 for lanthanides) compared to quadrupole ICP-MS (6 ng mL À1 for Cs and 8 ng mL À1 for lanthanides).…”

“…The most extensively studied element in environmental samples is Pb. Crustal Pb and ore Pb show a pronounced difference in their isotopic composition, owing to the fact that the production of 206 Pb, 207 Pb and 208 Pb as a result of the decay of 238 U, 235 U and 232 Th, respectively, has been going on for a much longer time in the crust. Thus, it is quite easy to distinguish between natural, geogenic Pb (crustal signature) and anthropogenic Pb (ore signature) and calculate the relative contribution of the sources, even with single-collector instrumentation.…”

Fast methods for 239Pu faecal bioassay

“…3 Method inter-comparison for the measurement of 239 Pu in urine samples showed that the method offers high sensitivity, accuracy, and repeatability, and more importantly, higher sample throughput than other methods used in the intercomparison study. 4 The last parameter is very important for emergency population monitoring as a large population might need immediate screening following an RN event.…”