Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A rapid method for determination of 210Po in soil and sediments without the use of HF

  • Published:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A method for determining the content of 210Po in soil and sediment samples without the use of hydrofluoric acid has been developed. Soil and sediment samples were fused with sodium hydroxide and sodium peroxide to achieve a clear solution without any visible traces of the solid matrix. After extracting 210Po by spontaneous deposition from the sample, the sample was measured by alpha spectrometry. The average recovery for the method in environmental soil samples was 81.2 ± 6.0% and the detection limit of the method reaches 0.1 mBq/g.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ansoborlo E, Berard P, den Auwer C et al (2012) Review of chemical and radiotoxicological properties of polonium for internal contamination purposes. Chem Res Toxicol 25:1551–1564. https://doi.org/10.1021/tx300072w

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Matthews KM, Kim CK, Martin P (2007) Determination of 210Po in environmental materials: a review of analytical methodology. Appl Radiat Isot 65:267–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2006.09.005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Thakur P, Ward AL (2020) 210Po in the environment: insight into the naturally occurring polonium isotope. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 323:27–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06939-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (2017) The environmental behaviour of polonium, Technical reports series no. 484, IAEA, Vienna

  5. Persson BRR, Holm E (2011) Polonium-210 and lead-210 in the terrestrial environment: a historical review. J Environ Radioact 102:420–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.01.005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Sethy NK, Sutar AK, Rath P et al (2015) A review of radio chemical analysis and estimation of 210Po in soil matrices. J Radiat Res Appl Sci 8:590–596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrras.2015.07.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Martin A, Blanchard RL (1969) The thermal volatilisation of caesium-137, polonium-210 and lead-210 from in vivo labelled samples. Analyst 94:441–446. https://doi.org/10.1039/AN9699400441

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Henricsson F, Ranebo Y, Holm E, Roos P (2011) Aspects on the analysis of 210Po. J Environ Radioact 102:415–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2010.09.010

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Kahn B (2007) Radioanalytical chemistry. Springer, New York, NY

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Akber RA, Hutton JT, Prescott JR (1985) Thick source alpha counting using fused glass discs: corrections for loss of radon and polonium. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res A 234:394–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Jia G, Torri G (2007) Determination of 210Pb and 210Po in soil or rock samples containing refractory matrices. Appl Radiat Isot 65:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2006.05.007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Maxwell SL, McAlister DR, Sudowe R (2019) Rapid method to determine Polonium-210 in urban matrices. Appl Radiat Isot 148:270–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.03.018

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ficklen CB (2009) Atoms, radiation and radiation protection (third edition). Radiat prot dosimetry 132:420. https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncn307

  14. Flynn WW (1968) The determination of low levels of polonium-210 in environmental materials. Anal Chim Acta 43:221–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-2670(00)89210-7

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. L’Annunziata MF (2013) Handbook of radioactivity analysis, Third edit. Elsevier Inc, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  16. D’Cunha P, Bhat PS, Narayana Y (2011) A study on 210Po activity concentration in soil at different depths along coastal kerala. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 290:171–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-011-1175-y

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Al-Masri MS, Aba A, Al-Hamwi A, Shakhashiro A (2004) Preparation of in-house reference soil sample containing high levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials from the oil industry. Appl Radiat Isot 61:1397–1402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2004.04.007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. le Cloarec MF, Ardouin B, Cachier H et al (1995) 210Po in savanna burning plumes. J Atmos Chem 22:111–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00708184

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Josephine T. Kristensen & Xiaolin Hou

Authors
  1. Josephine T. Kristensen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiaolin Hou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josephine T. Kristensen.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kristensen, J.T., Hou, X. A rapid method for determination of 210Po in soil and sediments without the use of HF. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 953–957 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08667-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08667-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation