Abstract
Urine assay is the preferred method for monitoring accidental or chronic internal intake of uranium into the human body. A new radiochemical separation procedure has been developed to provide isotopic uranium analysis in urine samples. In the procedure, uranium is co-precipitated with hydrous titanium oxide (HTiO) from urine matrix, and is then purified by anion exchange chromatographic column. Alpha spectrometry is used for isotopic uranium analysis after preparation of a thin-layer counting source by cerium fluoride micro-precipitation. Replicate spike and procedural blank samples were prepared and measured to validate the procedure. The 232U tracer was utilized for chemical recovery correction, and an average recovery of 76.2 ± 8.1% was found for 1400 mL urine samples. With 48 h of counting, the minimum detectable activity concentrations were determined to be 0.43, 0.21 and 0.42 mBq/L for 238U, 235U and 234U, respectively.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). The author wishes to thank Julia Moore, Julie Chartrand and Linda Paterson for their assistances with this work.
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Dai, X. Isotopic uranium analysis in urine samples by alpha spectrometry. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 289, 595–600 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-011-1118-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-011-1118-7