Removal of sodium and chlorine from seawater prior to neutron activation analysis for trace elements

A neutron activation analysis (NAA) method has been developed for the determination of 14 elements in seawater samples. The method consists of pre-irradiation separations of interfering elements, viz. Na with hydrated antimony pentoxide, leached Sb using either acid aluminum oxide or tin dioxide, and Cl and Br with a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide, followed by 3 different irradiation, decay and counting periods. Concentrations of Ag, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, La, Lu, Mn, Mo, Sc, Sm, Ti, V and Zn have been measured and compared with those obtained by an independent preconcentration method. Precision and limits of detection and determination have been evaluated.     

Characterization of simulated vitrified highly active waste and its leachates by neutron activation

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) methods have been developed for the simultaneous determinations of multielement concentrations in various types of glass and their leachates. The epithermal instrumental NAA (EINAA) method involves the irradiation of samples in a Cd-shielded site for 2–5 min in order to determine levels of of up to 13 elements through their short-lived nuclides. Another 15 elements can be measured via their long-lived nuclides using conventional instrumental NAA (INAA). Accuracy of the methods have been evaluated by analyzing certified reference materials. The limits of detection for all elements are reported. The methods have been applied to sodium borosilicate and sodium calcium aluminosilicate glass samples in order evaluate their suitability as a host matrix for immobilizing high level radioactive waste.     

Determination of trace elements in acid rain by reversed-phase extraction chromatography and neutron activation

A preconcentration neutron activation analysis (PNAA) method involving reversed-phase extraction chromatography on 8-hydroxyquinoline-loaded Amberlite XAD-2 resin has been developed for the simultaneous determination of selected trace elements in acid rain and natural water samples. Quantitative retention has been achieved for Co, Cu, Hg, V and Zn at pH 6.0 and for Cd at pH 7.0. Various factors that can influence the preconcentration procedure have been studied in detail. Concentrations of the elements have been determined by the direct irradiation of the resin without eluting them from the column. Both precision and accuracy of the PNAA method are very good. The detection limits vary between 0.01 and 3 ppb.     

Nuclear activation methods for the characterization of fossil fuels

A review is presented on the use of neutron activation analysis (NAA) for the analyses of coal, oil shale, tar sands and petroleum. Fast NAA has been widely used for the determination of oxygen, and to a limited extent, of other elements such as nitrogen and silicon. Reactor NAA followed by instrumental counting, and in specific cases, after radiochemical separations is discussed. Thermal and epithermal neutrons are both used. Limited use of the²⁵²Cf source has been made in fuel analysis. A complementary technique to NAA is the photon-activation analysis with linear accelerator. It can determine over thirty elements, many of them not possible to do by NAA. Round-robin analyses of standard coal, fly ash, or oil shale samples indicate nuclear activation methods are comparable in accuracy and precision to X-ray fluorescence or atomic spectrometric methods for most elements.     

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.     

Reversed-phase extraction chromatography–neutron activation analysis (RPEC–NAA) for copper in natural waters using Amberlite XAD-4 resin coated with 1-(2-thiazolylazo)-2-naphthol

A preconcentration neutron activation analysis method has been developed for the determination of trace levels of Cu in natural waters including seawater with an absolute detection limit of 0.106 μg. The method involves the preconcentration of Cu onto Amberlite XAD-4 resin coated with 1-(2-thiazolylazo)-2-naphthol using reversed-phase extraction chromatography (RPEC). Copper is assayed through its neutron activation product ⁶⁶Cu (half-life = 5.10 min) by direct irradiation of the resin bed. Factors affecting the uptake of Cu onto the ligand-impregnated resin have been investigated; these include flow rate, pH, column height, presence of other trace elements, major elements, and interfering matrix. The RPEC–NAA method has been validated by analyzing NIST and NRC water reference materials.     

Determination of protein-bound trace elements in bovine kidneys

Concentrations of up to 16 elements have been determined in subcellular fractions of bovine kidney using INAA methods. Levels of Rb and Se have been measured by a cyclic INAA method. A conventional INAA method consisting of 2 irradiations and 3 counting periods has been employed to determine the other elements. Accuracy of measurements has been evaluated by analyzing several standard reference materials. Trace element content of reagents used has been investigated in detail. Fresh samples of bovine kidney have been homogenized in a buffer containing sucrose and HEPES, and the homogeneate separated into nuclei, mitochondrial, lysosomal, microsomal and cytosol fractions by successive differential centrifugation. Concentrations of trace elements have been measured in these fractions using the INAA methods.     

Arsenic speciation in solid biological specimens by temperature-controlled pyrolysis and NAA

A pyrolysis-neutron activation analysis (NAA) procedure has been developed and applied to the speciation of arsenic in solid biological samples. The method involves the retention of the inorganic arsenic in the pyrolysis boat by the addition of NaOH, the volatilization and trapping of the organic arsenic on a cation exchange resin and the subsequent NAA of the resin for the determination of the trapped arsenic. The method, developed with the aid of radiochemically labelled arsenic compounds, has been applied to the determination of the ratio of inorganic to organic arsenic species in commercical shrimps as well as in NBS standard reference materials such as oysters and orchard leaves. The results show different relative amounts of inorganic arsenic content in the samples analysed. In the shrings the fraction of inorganic arsenic was of the order of 20%, in the oysters the inorganic arsenic consfituted 60% of the total arsenic concentration while in the samples of vegetable origin more than 98% of the arsenic was of inorganic nature.     

Scalp hair as a monitor of population exposure to environmental pollutants

Concentrations of As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb and Zn have been measured in hair from population groups with varied types of environmental exposure. Rural and urban controls have exhibited low levels of most toxic elements, whereas people residing near urban lead refineries, rural gold refinery and other industries have shown high elemental concentrations in their hair. A combination of instrumental as well as radiochemical neutron and photon activation analysis methods have been used to determine the concentrations of the above elements. The precision and accuracy of these methods have been evaluated.     

Instrumental multielement activation analysis of soil samples

Soil samples from a waste water cleaning facility in Berlin, Germany, have been analyzed using several activation analysis methods. 43 elements have been determined by instrumental high energy photon activation analysis (PAA), instrumental thermal neutron activation analysis (NAA) and 14 MeV neutron activation analysis (fNAA). Conventional gamma ray spectroscopy and low energy photon spectroscopy (LEPS) have been applied for product activity measurement. It has turned out that these methods in combination offer a wide spectrum of analytical information.     

河水中痕量铜的形态分析研究

采用离子交换树脂分离／分光光度法研究了铜的形态分离分析条件，提出了铜的形态分析方法。用此法测定了珠江水中痕量铜的总量、悬浮态、溶解态、阴离子态、阳离子态、非离子态及其形态分布，结果令人满意。     

New Developments in Activation Analysis for Material and Environmental Sciences

Activation analysis in general and mainly reactor neutron activation analysis (NAA) has been used extensively for measuring trace elements in high purity materials, particularly semiconductor materials. The advantages of NAA in determination of trace elements differ from one semiconductor material to another. For all of them the inherent properties of activation analysis especially those of non contamination with the reagents, low blanks and high sensitivity are the reasons for the choice of NAA as the main analytical procedure. These inherent properties are essential for analysis of high-purity materials where concentrations of ppb's and sub ppb's have to be measured. NAA is specially suitable for the determination of trace elements in silicon due to the very short lived very low activity induced by neutron reaction in silicon. This enables easy instrumental (i.e. without chemical separations) determination of trace elements in silicon. In the HFR reactor at Peten, Netherlands, a special facility was constructed for irradiation of silicon samples of Philips, in which silicon wafers of up to 15 cm diameter can be irradiated with 4 × 10¹³n. cm^?2. sec^?1 and the irradiation is done for 72–96 hours. using large Ge(Li) detectors (100 to 150cc) and long counting time (8–16 hours) they measured 22 elements in concentrations below ppb and 10 others between ppb and 300 ppm. Trace elements in germanium have been determined both instrumentally after very long decay time (100 days) or after short decay time removing the activities from the matrix by chemical separation. Trace elements in GaAs are determined only after chemical separtion. Several other semiconductor material such as Sc, Te, GaP and CuInS₂ were also determined by NAA. Some trace elements cannot be determined by neutron activation. Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen are determined by activation with protons, alphas or ³He particles. Boron and hydrogen are determined by prompt emission induced by charged particle activation, which gives not only the total concentration but also the depth profile. Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus were also determined by prompt proton activation analysis. The environmental samples studied by activation analysis can be divided into three categories: atmospheric aerosols, water samples and solid wastes. NAA of atmospheric aerosols have been used for their posible toxicological hazards, their source identification and for studies of atmospheric transport processes.     

Instrumental neutron activation analysis of dry atmospheric fall-out and rain-water

An automated precipitation sampler and an instrumental neutron activation analysis (i.n.a.a.) method for the determination of some major and trace elements in dry atmospheric fall-out and rain-water are presented. The sampler features a rain detector which makes separate collection of dry atmospheric fall-out and rain-water possible. The sampler is equipped with u.v. lamps in order to avoid algal growth during extended collection periods. After collection, the samples are separated into water-soluble and insoluble fractions. The soluble fraction is preconcentrated before analysis by freeze-drying. The i.n.a.a. method involves the measurement of both short- and long-lived radioactivities so that a total of 35 elements can be determined. The possibility of losses during freezedrying and the accuracy of the i.n.a.a. method were investigated for 7 elements by analysis of a soluble fraction with an independent method, viz. inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.     

Simultaneous estimation of copper, zinc, cadmium and mercury in biological material by neutron activation analysis

Simultaneous determination of copper, zinc, cadmium and mercury with high sensitivity is possible by neutron activation analysis. After irradiation, the samples are digested and an initial separation of the four elements made by means of an ion-exchange resin. The elements in the separated fractions are then treated to give radio-chemical purity, precipitated, and their activities measured. A purely instrumental technique for the analysis of zinc in samples of biological material is also described. The samples are irradiated for a week and after the activity has decayed for about three months it is measured on a gamma-spectrometer.     

APDC-MIBK extraction system for the determination of trace elements in saline waters by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry

A technique has been developed for the determination of "soluble" cobalt, copper, iron, lead, nickel and zinc in saline waters by simultaneous extraction of their complexes with ammonium pyrollidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) into methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) and subsequent analysis by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. Particulate matter is analysed separately by dissolving millipore filters in an acetone-hydrochloric acid mixture. Various analytical and instrumental parameters have been evaluated. The method is selfcompensating in that it makes allowance for any incomplete extraction of the complexes. The technique has been applied to the determination of these elements in sea-water and saline lakes.     

Determination of58Fe and65Cu enriched stable isotopic tracers in studies of mineral metabolism of babies

Neutron activation analysis is an appropriate method for the determination of the excretion by infants of enriched stable isotopes which have been added to synthetic milks for assessment of elemental bioavailability.⁵⁸Fe enrichments in diet and faeces have been determined by instrumental NAA and a radiochemical procedure established for determination of⁶⁵Cu enrichments. Conditions for the latter facilitate determination of both stable Cu isotopes, thereby providing results for the total concentration of this element. Appearance of added stable isotopes in samples collected between carmine red markers has been confirmed, and the method applied to studies of Fe and Cu absorption.     

Preliminary homogeneity study of in-house reference material using neutron activation analysis and X-ray fluorescence

Summary Although many biological reference materials for quality control of trace element analysis are commercially available, there is still a need for additional local materials for special matrices. In the Latin American region a preliminary study has been commenced involving analytical strategies for the characterization of in-house reference material. A biological sample, prepared in Brazil, constitutes the first regional attempt to prepare reference material. It was analyzed by neutron activation analysis (NAA) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to verify its homogeneity. The determination of the trace elements and certain major elements was carried out by instrumental NAA. Trace elements such as Cd, Mn, Mo and Cu were determined using NAA with radiochemical separations to improve the sensitivity and precision. XRF was applied only to major constituents and some trace elements with concentration of more than 10 g/g. From a total of 18 elements analyzed, only Fe, Cr and Sc were not homogeneously distributed.     

The determination of zonally distributed impurities in diamond by instrumental neutron activation analysis

A technique is described for the determination by instrumental neutron activation analysis of the zonal distribution of trace elements in diamond. Individual diamonds were irradiated and then dissolved in stages into 10 to 20 fractions in molten sodium nitrate. The activity of the material dissolved in each fraction was measured using a well-shielded Ge(Li) detector. Because of the small sample sizes involved, many elements typically found in diamond were below the limits of detection even though the experimental conditions were optimised for high sensitivity. The data obtained for a clear, a green and a coated diamond are given here to show the scope of the method. High levels of some elements in the outermost layers of all the diamonds are thought to have been due the implantation of surface contaminants during neutron irradiation. Removal of the outer few microns of irradiated diamonds before counting will avoid this source of error.     

Elemental analysis of a single-wall carbon nanotube candidate reference material

A material containing single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with other carbon species, catalyst residues, and trace element contaminants has been prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for characterization and distribution as Standard Reference Material SRM 2483 Carbon Nanotube Soot. Neutron activation analysis (NAA) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) were selected to characterize the elemental composition. Catalyst residues at percentage mass fraction level were determined with independent NAA procedures and a number of trace elements, including selected rare earth elements, were determined with NAA and ICP–MS procedures. The results of the investigated materials agreed well among the NAA and ICP–MS procedures and good agreement of measured values with certified values was found in selected SRMs included in the analyses. Based on this work mass fraction values for catalyst and trace elements were assigned to the candidate SRM.