Determination of elements in SRM soil 2709a by neutron activation analysis

A combination of instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and prompt gamma-ray activation analysis (PGAA) was used to value assign 35 elements in SRM soil 2709a (San Joaquin Soil). INAA with counting of short-lived radioisotopes was used for determination of Al, Au, Ca, Dy, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ti, and V. Elements determined by INAA with counting of intermediate and long-lived radioisotopes included As, Ba, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Lu, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Yb, Zn, and Zr. Thermal neutron PGAA was used for the determination of H, B, Si, K, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cd and Gd. Expanded uncertainties were determined for all values reported.     

Determination of trace elements of some Egyptian crops by instrumental neutron activation,inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometric and flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometric analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used for the determination of Al, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Ti, Th, V and Zn, ICP-AES for the determination Al, Ag, Ba, Be, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Sc, Sr, Ti, V and Zn and flameless AAS for the determination of Cd, Hg and Pb in egg plant, potatoes, green pepper (Leguminosae), vegetable marrow (Cucurbitaceae), pears, apple (Rosaceae), castor oil plant (Euphorbiaceae), lettuce (compositae), dill, parsley, coriander (Umbelliferae), and in some soil samples collected from Aswan province.     

Determination of impurities in nuclear fuel element components by neutron activation analysis

Neutron activation analysis methods for the determination of impurities in zirconium cladding material and uranium oxide are described. Detection limits for the elements Al, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Hf, Fe, Mn, Ni, W and U in zirconium are below that required by the ASTM B 352-79 standard. The method has been tested on the NIST SRM 360a Zircaloy-2 from which the elements Na, Mg, Al, Ca, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Eu and U have been detected. The values for Cr, Fe, Ni and Cu are compared with the certified values. A method for the pre-irradiation separation of the elements Mg, Na, Al, K, Sc, Ca, V, Mn, Cr, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Rb, Zr, Cd, Cs, REE and Hf from uranium has been developed. A neutron activation analysis method for the determination of those elements in uranium is described. The method is tested by the analysis of the IAEA reference sample SR-54/64. The elements Al, Mn, V, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni and Fe have been detected and the results compared with the certified values.     

Major elements as possible factors of trace element urban pedochemical anomalies

The relationship between real total contents of the major elements Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Fe and the trace elements Ag, As, B, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, V, U, Zn in topsoil from the central part of Vilnius is analysed. The amounts of most elements were determined by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, while amounts of Ag, B, Co were measured by optical atomic emission spectrophotometry. Two factors were distinguished according to major elements: anthropogenic (A) including Ca, Mg, Fe, P, S and clayey (C) including K, Al, Ti. Boron, Mn, Cr and U are significantly correlated with members of both factors, Sb with none of them and other trace elements either with all (Cu, Zn, Pb, Se, Ba, Ni, Co) or with separate (V, Ag, Sn, Mo, As) members of the A-factor. Only B, Mn, Cr, U (partly their additive index Z1) are influenced by the C-factor, while twelve other trace elements (also their additive index Z2) are influenced by the A-factor. The additive index Z of all 17 elements is also affected by the A-factor. Four groups of sites have been distinguished according to normal or higher contents of both factors. The majority of trace element anomalies are related to the sites affected by the A-factor.     

Elemental characterization of the new Czech meteorite ‘Morávka’ by neutron and photon activation analysis

Forty two major, minor and some trace elements were determined by activation analysis in the new Czech Morávka H5 chondrite, which fell on May 6, 2000 in the vicinity of Morávka, north-east Moravia. The elements Na, Mg, Al, Si, Cl, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Co, Ni, and Cu were determined by means of instrumental short-time neutron activation analysis (INAA), whereas another group of elements, namely Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, As, Se, Br, Sb, La, Sm, Ir, Au and Hg were assayed using long-time INAA. Most of the rare earth elements (REE) were determined by radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA) using precipitation of their oxalates, whilst for the determination of Rb and Cs an RNAA procedure based on selective sorption of the elements on ammonium phosphomolybdenate was employed. Mg, Ca, Ti, Mn, Ni, Sr, Y and Zr were determined by instrumental photon neutron activation analysis (IPAA) using the irradiation with 20 MeV bremsstrahlung from a microtron. For quality control, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reference rocks basalt BCR-1 and diabase W-1 were analyzed. Moreover, the self-verification principle in activation analysis was employed to increase the credibility of the obtained results.     

Determination of trace elements in food by neutron activation analysis

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) methods have been developed for the determination of major, minor and trace elements in duplicate diets and individual food items. These include a cyclic instrumental NAA (CINAA) method for measuring Se content through its short-lived nuclide^77mSe; epithermal INAA (EINAA) for I and As; conventional INAA for Br, Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sn and Zn; combination of EINAA and INAA for Al; radiochemical NAA (RNAA) for As, Au, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mo, Sb, Se and Zn; and preconcentration NAA (PNAA) for U and Th. Accuracy of measurements have been evaluated by analyzing a number of biological and diet reference materials. Multielement concentrations of diets and foods have been measured by these methods.     

Trace element content of some Polish hard and brown coals

Instrumental neutron activation analysis /INAA/ method was applied to measure major, minor and trace elements in 34 samples of hard and brown coal originating from eight Polish coal mines. The elemental concentrations of 38 elements /Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, In, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Sm, Eu, Lu, W, Au and Th/ are presented and compared with published data for coals from various origin. Enrichment factors, calculated relative to iron and the average crustal rock composition, indicated that several elements are highly enriched in Polish coals.     

Determination of 21 elements by INAA for certification of SRM 1570a,Spinach

Analyses for certification have been made by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for the determination of 21 elements in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Spinach renewal reference material, SRM 1570a. Elements determined included ones with short halflife products (Al, V, Ca, Mg), intermediate halflife products (Mn, Na, K, La), and long halflife products (Ba, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Th, and Zn). For the first time a new robotic sample changer was used in the counting of long halflife indicator isotopes for certification of an SRM. Uncertainties obtained averaged±1.80% for the four major and minor constituents (Ca, K, Mg, Na); ±3.14% for elements with concentrations from 1 to 400 mg/kg (Al, Ba, Cr, Fe, Mn, Rb, Sr, and Zn); and±8.31% for the ultra trace elements (<1 mg/kg) (Co, Cs, Eu, La, Sb, Sc, Se, Th, and V).     

Findings of national proficiency test exercise for the determination of trace elements in edible mushroom reference material

This paper presents the results of the proficiency test exercise conducted in Pakistan for the determination of trace elements in mushroom reference material. Thirteen laboratories from different organizations of the country submitted trace elemental data on Al, As, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Pb, Rb Sc, Si, Sm, Sr, Th, Zn. Results for Al, As, Br, Ca, Cd, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb Sc, and Zn, in the mushroom material were reported by two or more participating laboratories and could be subjected to statistical evaluation. The original data of these trace elements was subjected to a computer program “Histo Version 2.1” provided by IAEA. The four outlier tests, i.e., Dixon, Grubbs, skewness and kurtosis were applied to the data sets. Consensus (overall) mean values, absolute standard deviation, relative standard deviation, standard error, median and range of values for these elements have been reported at a significance level of 0.05.     

Neutron activation analysis of an Egyptian cigarette and its ash

The concentration of 28 elements in tobacco and cigarette paper in an Egyptian Cigarette were determined using instrumental neutron activation analysis. These elements are: Al, As, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Th, Ti, V and Zn. The cigarette filter (before and after normal smoking) and the produced ash were analyzed to determine the adsorption of the elements on the filter and their remains in ash. The material balance for the determined elements were calculated.     

Evaluation of strontium isotope abundance ratios in combination with multi-elemental analysis as a possible tool to study the geographical origin of ciders

In order to evaluate alternative analytical methodologies to study the geographical origin of ciders, both multi-elemental analysis and Sr isotope abundance ratios in combination with multivariate statistical analysis were estimated in 67 samples from England, Switzerland, France and two Spanish regions (Asturias and the Basque Country). A methodology for the precise and accurate determination of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope abundance ratio in ciders by multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) was developed. Major elements (Na, K, Ca and Mg) were measured by ICP-AES and minor and trace elements (Li, Be, B, Al, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, W, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th and U) were measured by ICP-MS using a collision cell instrument operated in multitune mode. An analysis of variance (ANOVA test) indicated that group means for B, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Se, Cd, Cs, Ce, W, Pb, Bi and U did not show any significant differences at the 95% confidence level, so these elements were rejected for further statistical analysis. Another group of elements (Li, Be, Sc, Co, Ga, Y, Sn, Sb, La, Tl, Th) was removed from the data set because concentrations were close to the limits of detection for many samples. Therefore, the remaining elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ba) together with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope abundance ratio were considered for principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Finally, LDA was able to classify correctly 100% of cider samples coming from different Spanish regions, France, England and Switzerland when considering Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ba and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope abundance ratio as original variables.     

Direct multielement determination of trace elements in boron carbide powders by direct current arc atomic emission spectrometry using a CCD spectrometer

The use of direct current arc atomic emission spectrometry (DC-arc-AES) with a CCD spectrometer for the direct determination of the trace impurities Al, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Si, Ti, and Zr in three well characterized boron carbide powders is described. The detection limits obtained by the procedure were found to be between 0.2 (Mg) and 25 (Na) ??g?g^?1 for the above elements. Three boron carbide powder samples with trace element concentrations between 0.9 (Cu) and 934 (Si) ??g?g^?1 for Al, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Si, Ti, and Zr ?? including the standard reference material ERM?-ED102 ?? were analyzed by DC-arc-AES. The relative standard deviations for 9 measurements when using 5.0?±?0.3?mg of the respective samples were found to vary from 6.2 to 27% for Al and Cu, respectively. The trace elements Al, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Si, Ti and Zr could be determined in the standard reference material and their concentrations determined by DC-arc AES were found to be between 89 and 116% of the accepted values. Fe and Ti were determined by DC-arc AES in the three boron carbide samples as well as in Al₂O₃, BN, SiC, coal fly ash, graphite and obsidian rock. The correlation coefficients of the plots of the net intensities versus the accepted values over the concentration ranges from 18 to 1750 and from 6 to 8000???g?g^?1 are 0.999 and 0.990 for Fe and Ti, respectively.

A trace element study of commercial infant milk and cereal formulas

Three commercial infant milk formulas, one commercial infant cereal formula and one locally grown cereal used for infant feeding in Nigeria were analyzed for 17 trace elements, viz: Al, As, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Se and Zn. The commercial milk formulas contain adequate amounts of Ca, Cl, Co, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Zn, the locally grown cereal contains adequate amounts of Co, K, Mg, Mn and Zn and low in Ca, Cl, Fe and Na while the commercial cereal has adequate amounts of Ca, Cl, Co, K, Mg, Na and Zn. None of the samples analyzed was found to contain any elements up to threshold toxicity limits of concentrations.     

藏药材白花龙胆花中微量元素的分析

对藏药材白花龙胆花中17种微量元素（Cu、Zn、Fe、Mn、Co、Ni、Se、Cr、Mg、Ca、K、Na、P、As、Hg、Pb、Cd）的含量作了测定。结果表明,白花龙胆花中含有较高的人体必需微量元素和常量元素,其中常量元素K、Ca、Na、Mg和微量元素Zn、Fe、Mn的含量均较高。     

Use of INAA,PGAA, and RNAA to determine 30 elements for certification of an SRM: Tomato Leaves, 157a

Analyses for certification have been made for the determination of 30 elements in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Tomato Leaves renewal reference material, SRM 1573a. Three of the analytical techniques used were instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA), and prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA). These techniques provided data on 19 elements by INAA, 10 elements by PGAA, and 7 elements by RNAA, with some overlap between techniques. For example, INAA was able to obtain overall analytical uncerainties (at the 95% confidence level) averaging ±2.2% for major and minor constituents (Ca, Mg, K), ±3.3% for constituents from 1 to 1000 g/g (Na, Fe, Al, Mn, Ba, Zn, Rb, La, Cr), and ±6.4% for elements between 10 and 1000 ng/g (Co, V, Se, Th, Sc, Sb), using sample dry weights of approximately 150 mg. These analyses represent the most extensive use to date of nuclear analytical techniques in the certification of a trace element SRM at NIST.     

57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy of banded iron formations from eastern India

Samples of the mosses Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi, collected in the summer of 1998, were used to study the atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and other toxic elements in the Chelyabinsk Region situated in the South Urals, one of the most heavily polluted industrial areas of the Russian Federation. Samples of natural soils were collected simultaneously with moss at the same 30 sites in order to investigate surface accumulation of heavy metals and to examine the correlation of elements in moss and soil samples in order to separate contributions from atmospheric deposition and from soil minerals. A total of 38 elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Yb, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Th, U) in soil and 33 elements Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Ag, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Sm, Tb, Yb, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Th, U) were determined by epithermal neutron activation analysis. The elements Cu, Cd and Pb (in moss samples only) were obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry. VARIMAX rotated principal component analysis was used to identify and characterize different pollution sources and to point out the most polluted areas.     

Ion-exchange separation and atomic-absorption determination of fifteen major, minor and trace elements in silicates

A scheme of ion-exchange separation of fifteen elements (major, minor and trace) determined mainly by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry (Ti by colorimetry) is applied to rock, mineral and ceramic analysis. Mn, Cu, Co, Fe and Zn are separated on an anion-exchanger and Li, Na, K, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ti, Al, Ni and Ba on a cation-exchanger. The method has been tested by analysis of a synthetic mixture of the fifteen ions in the ratios in common rock samples, and of various international standards (100-mg samples).     

Instrumental neutron activation analysis of brewer's yeast

Instrumental neutron activation was used for the determination of 23 trace and minor elements in 4 different samples of brewer's yeast. Detection limits for these elements vary from 2 ppb to 100 ppm. The following average concentrations were found (ppm, dry weight): Al 597, Br 0.36, Cl 1473, Co 0.21, Cu 19, Fe 285, K 16 400, Mg 1355, Mn 8.4, Na 2330, Rb 19, Sb 0.053, Se 1.2, V 2.2 and Zn 80. NBS standard 1569 was also analyzed and the following concentrations (in ppm) were measured: Al 2300, Br 0.65, Ce 0.23, Cl 460, Co 0.26, Cr 2.12, Cu 11, Fe 707, Gd 7.1, Hf 0.13, K 15 500, Mg 1780, Mn 7, Na 510, Rb 16, Sb 0.075, Sc 0.18, Se 0.92, Th 3.7, Ti 38, U 0.49, V 4.1 and Zn 70.     

Elemental characterization of some Nigerian gemstones: tourmaline, fluorite and topaz by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was employed in the determination of the major and trace element constituents in tourmaline, fluorite and topaz collected from the gemstone mineralization within a SW–NE trending pegmatite zone, central Nigeria. Cost, turnaround time, high sensitivity for certain elements, the non-destructive nature of analysis and its precision and accuracy have combined to make INAA an indispensable method for multi-element determination in virtually all geological matrices. The major element constituents in tourmaline were Al (119,800 ppm), Mn (4,348 ppm), Na (15,540 ppm) and Fe (34,290 ppm). For fluorite, Ca was the major element with a concentration of 552,000 ppm. In topaz, Al was the major constituent with a concentration of 322,800 ppm. The data suites reveal the presence of As, Br, La, Sc, Co, Hf, Ta and Sb in tourmaline, Na, As, Br, La, Yb, Co, Zn, Eu, Hf, Th in fluorite and Mg, Mn, Na, Br, La, Sc, Co and Ta as trace contaminants. No attempt was made to identify the molecular structure of the gemstones as oxygen, fluorine and silicon contents in any of them were not determined.