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Determination of113mCd in natural water

  • Radioanalytical Methods
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Abstract

A method has been developed for the determination of113mCd from fallout in large-volume environmental water samples. In the analytical procedure a known amount of cadmium carrier is added to the sample and the cadmium is preconcentrated as insoluble hydroxide by coprecipitation with ferric hydroxide. The separated cadmium is purified from other interfering elements by an anion—exchange procedure. Finally, cadmium is coprecipitated with copper sulfide, and the radioactivity of113mCd is measured in a lowbackground, gas-flow proportional beta counter. The cadmium recovery is established by determining the amount of Cd in the precipitate using an energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. For a 24hr counting period a lower limit of detection around 50μBq113mCd/1 of sample has been attained. Samples of Lake Michigan water were analyzed: the concentration of113mCd in 1980 was 177±5 μBq/l.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Radioecology and Applied Nuclear Techniques, P. O. Box A-41, 04061, Košice, (Czechoslovakia)

    Š. Palágyi

  2. Ecological Sciences Section, Radiological and Environmental Research Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 60439, Argonne, Illinois, (USA)

    R. P. Larsen

Authors
  1. Š. Palágyi
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  2. R. P. Larsen
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Palágyi, Š., Larsen, R.P. Determination of113mCd in natural water. J. Radioanal. Chem. 80, 141–152 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02517657

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02517657

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