title: Rapid and sensitive determination of radiocesium (Cs-135, Cs-137) in the presence of excess barium by electrothermal vaporization-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) with potassium thiocyanate as modifier.
abstract: An electrothermal vaporization-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric (ETV-ICP-MS) method based on selective volatilization of cesium with KSCN as modifier has been developed for determination of radiocesium, i.e. 135Cs and 137Cs, in the presence of isobaric barium. A 10,000 times excess of barium, which was volatilized at a temperature of 1,100 degrees C, resulted only in a 1% signal increase in the signal of mass 135 amu. The recommended concentration of KSCN is 0.3 mM, and pretreatment and volatilization temperatures are 400 degrees C and 1,100 degrees C, respectively. A ramp time of 1 s is recommeded for the volatilization step. The achieved limit of detection for 135Cs is 0.2 pg/mL (10 microBq/mL) and 4 fg (0.2 microBq) absolute for a sample volume of 20 microL. This means a limit of detection for 137Cs of 0.2 pg/mL (0.6 Bq/mL) and of 4 fg (0.01 Bq) absolute. Signal variations of 135Cs and 137Cs, respectively, in spiked samples with various matrices were investigated.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Radiochemie, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: T U
authors.initials: TU
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Berryman