title: Rapid determination of ¹³⁵Cs and precise ¹³⁵Cs/¹³⁷Cs atomic ratio in environmental samples by single-column chromatography coupled to triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.
abstract: For source identification, measurement of (135)Cs/(137)Cs atomic ratio not only provides information apart from the detection of (134)Cs and (137)Cs, but it can also overcome the application limit that measurement of the (134)Cs/(137)Cs ratio has due to the short half-life of (134)Cs (2.06 y). With the recent advancement of ICP-MS, it is necessary to improve the corresponding separation method for rapid and precise (135)Cs/(137)Cs atomic ratio analysis. A novel separation and purification technique was developed for the new generation of triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS). The simple chemical separation, incorporating ammonium molybdophosphate selective adsorption of Cs and subsequent single cation-exchange chromatography, removes the majority of isobaric and polyatomic interference elements. Subsequently, the ICP-MS/MS removes residual interference elements and eliminates the peak tailing effect of stable (133)Cs, at m/z 134, 135, and 137. The developed analytical method was successfully applied to measure (135)Cs/(137)Cs atomic ratios and (135)Cs activities in environmental samples (soil and sediment) for radiocesium source identification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Chemistry, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8564, Japan; Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Guosheng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Chemistry, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8564, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tazoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Chemistry, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8564, Japan. Electronic address: myamada@hirosaki-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
keywords: (135)Cs activity; (135)Cs/(137)Cs atomic ratio; Soil; Triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry; γ-spectrometry