Summary
The recent developments of extraction chromatography and ICP-MS made easier the determination of 99Tc in environmental samples. However, in the non-contaminated area, a pre-concentration procedure is necessary, because usually a large amount of sample is used for analysis. In this study, the ferrous ion (Fe2+) added as a reductant can make chemical yield from 50 to 80%, when larger than 100 liter water samples or 500 g soil samples are analyzed. The extraction chromatography with TEVA resin (EIChrom) and the measurement by ICP-MS have been developed using 95mTc and 103Ru as yield tracers. Detection limits of 3σ are 0.054 mBq/kg for 500 g soil and 0.032 µBq/lfor 500 l water. A pond named Hinotani, Mie Prefecture in the central part of Japan, was selected to be investigated as a natural system in a non-contaminated area. Surface soil near this pond, pond water and sediment were collected and analyzed for 99Tc. In a high fall-out area, Okuetsu, Fukui Prefecture forest soil was collected and analyzed. The 99Tc in the surface (0-5 cm) was 10.5±0.8 mBq/kg. The 99Tc in Hinotani surface (0-5 cm) soil were 0.77±0.06 mBq/kg less than in Okuetsu. Technetium-99 has been determined in pond water, sediment (0-5 cm) and shrimps in the Hinotani pond, 0.25±0.02 mBq/l, 3.3±0.3 mBq/kg, 1.5±0.2 mBq/kg, respectively.
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Seki, R., Kondo, M. An improved method for technetium determination in environmental samples. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 263, 393–398 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-005-0068-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-005-0068-3