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Determination of selenium in foods by pseudo-cyclic neutron activation and anti-coincidence gamma-ray spectrometry

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Abstract

A pseudo-cyclic instrumental neutron activation analysis method in conjunction with anti-coincidence gamma-ray spectrometry (PC-INAA-AC) has been developed for the determination of ppb levels of Se. The method consists of repetitions of the irradiation-decay-counting cycles of a sample using the rapid transfer cyclic system at the Dalhousie University SLOWPOKE-2 reactor facility. The 162-keV γ-ray of 77mSe (t 1/2 = 17.4 s) has been found to be highly selective. The precision and detection limits are significantly improved and the total experimental time drastically reduced by this method. Detection limits are between 2 and 9 ng. The accuracy of the method has been evaluated by analyzing a number of nutritional reference materials. The PC-INAA-AC method has been applied for the routine determination of Se to the composites of 135 food samples with values ranging from as low as 1 ng g−1 for tea to 1,045 ng g−1 for organ meats on fresh weight basis.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thankfully acknowledge the cooperation of the DUSR facility for irradiations, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for research grants, Health Canada for a research contract and samples, and Dr. R.W. Dabeka of Health Canada for helpful discussions.

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  1. W. Zhang

    Present address: Radiation Protection Bureau of Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, AL 6302D1, Ottawa, ON, K1A 1C1, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SLOWPOKE-2 Reactor Facility, Trace Analysis Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J3, Canada

    W. Zhang & A. Chatt

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  1. W. Zhang
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  2. A. Chatt
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Correspondence to A. Chatt.

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Zhang, W., Chatt, A. Determination of selenium in foods by pseudo-cyclic neutron activation and anti-coincidence gamma-ray spectrometry. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 282, 139–143 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0238-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0238-9

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