title: Concerning the low uranium and thorium yields in the electrodeposition process of soil and sediment analyses.
abstract: The very low yields obtained in a common method of alpha-particle spectrometry for the determination of uranium and thorium in soil and sediment samples of environmental origin were investigated. Several experiments were performed to determine the cause. The results suggest that aluminium may cause major chemical interference in the electrodeposition process, and can be considered to be primarily responsible for the low recoveries found. A procedure is proposed to resolve this problem.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blanco Rodríguez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vera Tomé
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lozano
mesh_terms: D000512:Alpha Particles; D000535:Aluminum; D016477:Artifacts; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013910:Thorium / Q000032:analysis*; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium; D013910:Thorium; D000535:Aluminum