Abstract
The activity levels of long-lived radionuclides in minerals have received more and more concern for the public health. The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to measure the content of uranium and thorium in 60 mineral samples collected from 16 mines of seven provinces in China. The contents of uranium and thorium ranged 0.17 ± 0.04 μg g−1 to 15.3 ± 2.39 μg g−1, and 0.19 ± 0.04 μg g−1 to 19.6 ± 7.56 μg g−1, respectively. The highest levels of U and Th contents were found in aluminum ore, whereas the lowest was found in antimony and copper ores.
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The authors acknowledge financial support by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant Nos. 2005DIB1J087, 2013BAK03B00). The authors thank Center for Disease Control and Prevention in provinces of Yunnan, Ningxia, Guizhou, Xinjiang and Heilongjiang; Hunan Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases; and Shandong Radiation Medical Institutes of Shandong Academy of Medical Science for collecting samples.
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Liang-Liang Yin, Qing Tian, Xian-Zhang Shao, Bao-Ming Shen, Xu Su and Yan-Qin Ji have contributed equally to this study.
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Yin, LL., Tian, Q., Shao, XZ. et al. ICP-MS measurement of uranium and thorium contents in minerals in China. NUCL SCI TECH 27, 10 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-016-0018-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-016-0018-5