On the possible existence of superheavy elements in monazite

Proton-induced x-ray studies of monazite grains from different occurrences show no evidence for primordial superheavy elements. It is demonstrated that the recently reported evidence for superheavy elements in monazite inclusions of biotite mica showing giant halo formation is not significant: the observed differences in the x-ray spectra of normal and giant halo inclusions are due to different backgrounds in the respective spectra. Moreover, it is shown that the 27.2 keV line tentatively interpreted as theL _α1x-ray of elementZ=126 can be entirely attributed to the reaction¹⁴⁰Ce(p,n γ)¹⁴⁰Pr.