title: Determination of (210)Po in drinking water and urine samples using copper sulfide microprecipitation.
abstract: Polonium-210 ((210)Po) can be rapidly determined in drinking water and urine samples by alpha spectrometry using copper sulfide (CuS) microprecipitation. For drinking water, Po in 10 mL samples was directly coprecipitated onto the filter for alpha counting without any purification. For urine, 10 mL of sample was heated, oxidized with KBrO3 for a short time (∼5 min), and subsequently centrifuged to remove the suspended organic matter. The CuS microprecipitation was then applied to the supernatant. Large batches of samples can be prepared using this technique with high recoveries (∼85%). The figures of merit of the methods were determined, and the developed methods fulfill the requirements for emergency and routine radioassays. The efficiency and reliability of the procedures were confirmed using spiked samples.
authors.affiliation: Radiological Protection Research and Instrumentation Branch, Chalk River Laboratories, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited , Building 513, Chalk River, Ontario K0J 1J0, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guérin
authors.forename: Xiongxin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D011059:Polonium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D003300:Copper; D011059:Polonium; C017846:cupric sulfide