title: Determination of 226Ra at ultratrace level in mineral water samples by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
abstract: An analytical procedure has been proposed for the determination of (226)Ra at the low femtogram per ml concentration level in mineral water samples using double focusing sector field ICP-MS (ICP-SFMS). For the pre-concentration and separation of radium from the matrix elements in water a tandem of a laboratory-prepared filter, based on MnO(2), and Eichrom "Sr-specific" resin was used. The recovery of the method was determined to be 70.5%. The limit of detection for (226)Ra determination was 0.02 fg ml(-1), including a pre-concentration factor of 10. In addition, uranium concentration and uranium isotope ratios were measured by ICP-SFMS. In several mineral water samples with a relatively high uranium content, (226)Ra concentrations were found between 0.7-15 fg ml(-1). The effective dose of the contribution was calculated using the radionuclide concentration and dose conversion factors from the World Health Organization, WHO (1993). Assuming a mineral water consumption of 2 l d(-1), a slightly higher calculated dose than the suggested limit for drinking water (0.1 mSv y(-1)) was found in some samples.
authors.affiliation: Central Division of Analytical Chemistry, Research Centre Juelich, D-52425, Juelich, Germany.
authors.forename: Miroslav V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Zoriy
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pickhardt
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ostapczuk
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hille
authors.forename: Ludwik
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Halicz
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: J Sabine
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium; D011886:Radon