title: An emergency bioassay method for actinides in urine.
abstract: A rapid bioassay method has been developed for the sequential measurements of actinides in human urine samples. The method involves actinide separation from a urine matrix by co-precipitation with hydrous titanium oxide (HTiO), followed by anion exchange and extraction chromatography column purification, and final counting by alpha spectrometry after cerium fluoride micro-precipitation. The minimal detectable activities for the method were determined to be 20 mBq L(-1) or less for plutonium, uranium, americium and curium isotopes, with an 8-h sample turn-around time. Spike tests showed that this method would meet the requirements for actinide bioassay following a radiation emergency.
authors.affiliation: Chalk River Laboratories, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario K0J 1J0, Canada. daix@aecl.ca
authors.forename: Xiongxin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kramer-Tremblay
mesh_terms: D008671:Actinoid Series Elements / Q000652:urine*; D002563:Cerium / Q000737:chemistry; D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D002845:Chromatography / Q000379:methods; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D005459:Fluorides / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008671:Actinoid Series Elements; C009495:titanium dioxide; C058441:cerium fluoride; D002563:Cerium; D014025:Titanium; D005459:Fluorides