Development of a radiochemical sequential procedure for the quantification of Th- and U-decay series elements in mining residues

Detection of Polonium-210 in Environmental, Biological and Food Samples: A Review

Ingestion of polonium-210 from environmental media and food can cause serious health hazards (e.g., gastrointestinal symptoms, tumours, etc.) and has been a public health concern worldwide since the 2006 poisoning of Agent Litvinenko 210Po in Russia. With the development of uranium mining and applications of nuclear technology in recent decades, the radioactive hazards posed by 210Po to living organisms and the environment have become increasingly prominent. In order to strengthen the monitoring of environmental 210Po and protect both the environment and human health, a series of explorations on the methods of 210Po determination have been ongoing by researchers across the globe. However, previous reviews have focused on individual sample types and have not provided a comprehensive account of environmental, food, and biological samples that are closely related to human health. In this work, the sources, health hazards, chemical purification, and detection methods of trace 210Po in different sample types are systematically reviewed. In particular, the advantages and disadvantages of various pretreatment methods are compared, and relevant domestic and international standards are integrated, which puts forward a new direction for the subsequent establishment of rapid, simple, and efficient measurement methods.

A new methodology based on TRU resin to measure U-, Th-isotopes and 210Po by alpha-particle spectrometry

This report presents a new methodology to isolate and measure ²¹⁰Po, as well as uranium and thorium isotopes. This new methodology reduces the standard time of operation, the minimum amount of chemical reagents and the quantity of resin used in comparison with other standard and well-established procedures for alpha spectrometry. Thus, the amount of chemicals reagent was lower than the amount used in other standard radiochemical processes: only 6 mL of 1 M HCl was used for the thorium elution, and 2 mL of H₂O and 1 mL of Ammonium Oxalate (0.05 M) (3 mL in total) for the uranium elution. Likewise, many samples of various activities and materials (liquids and solids) were used to validate the method.

Rapid determination of 210Pb and 210Po by sequential cloud point extraction for environmental monitoring

A new sequential cloud point extraction (CPE) procedure was developed and validated for the determination of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po by ICP-MS/MS and alpha spectrometry, respectively. Two distinct CPE systems using 4',4''(5'')-di-tert-butyldicyclohexano-18-crown-6 and N,N,N',N'-tetraoctyldiglycolamide as chelating agents were performed sequentially on the same sample. Method detection limits of 13 and 3.5 mBq L^-1, were achieved for ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po, respectively. The sequential approach shows its outstanding versatility and proficiency to rapidly extract, detect, and quantify both radionuclides in various matrices for a wide range of activities.