Abstract
A sensitive and accurate method for determination of 210Pb and 212Pb in drinking water samples was developed. In the method Pb was pre-concentrated as hydroxides, separated from alkaline earth elements as PbS precipitate, purified by an anion exchange resin chro-matography column, precipitated as PbSC4 for source preparation and counted by a low background β-counter. The procedure was checked with a reference material supplied by the IAEA, and the obtained data were in good agreement with the recommended values, showing the recommended procedure can provide reliable results. The minimum detectable activity of the method was 0.039 mBq L−1 for 210Pb and 0.033 mBq L−1 for 212Pb if a 48 liter of water sample was analyzed. Seventeen drinking water samples were analyzed with a Pb recovery of 88.8 ± 5.5%, and the typical activity concentration was in the range of 0.191–15.1 mBq L−1 for 210Pb and of 1.12–5.77 mBq L−1 for 212Pb.
Highlights
There is an elevated concern about the radiological characteristics and impact of drinking water
Seventeen drinking water samples were analyzed with a Pb recovery of 88.8 ± 5.5%, and the typical activity concentration was in the range of 0.191-15.1 mBq L−1 for 210Pb and of 1.12-5.77 mBq L−1 for 212Pb
Gross α and β activity measurements can serve as a screening tool for authority to control drinking water quality, for dose estimation it is necessary that the specific radionuclide in drinking water should be identified and their individual activity concentration measured, due to the fact that the dose coefficients are only related to the specific radionuclides
Summary
There is an elevated concern about the radiological characteristics and impact of drinking water. The naturally occurring radionuclides, such as those in the uranium series and the thorium series Among the four lead isotopes, 214Pb and 211Pb, possessing very short half-lives, low contents and/or poor abundance, are not measurable in the effective time of sample preparation and separation, but 210Pb and 212Pb are. The quality control tests and real sample analyses showed that the developed method for 210Pb and 212Pb determination in big quantity of water samples is a very sensitive and accurate technique, and can serve as a very useful tool for 210Pb and 212Pb studies in the fields of health physics, geochronology and environmental science
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