A faster sample preparation method for determination of polonium-210 in fish

A review of 210Pb and 210Po in moss

Among environment contaminants, 210Pb and 210Po have gained significant research attention due to their radioactive toxicity. Moss, with its exceptional adsorption capability for these radionuclides, serves as an indicator for environmental 210Pb and 210Po pollution. The paper reviews a total of 138 articles, summarizing the common methods and analytical results of 210Pb and 210Po research in moss. It elucidates the accumulation characteristics of 210Pb and 210Po in moss, discusses current research challenges, potential solutions, and future prospects in this field. Existing literature indicates limitations in common measurement techniques for 210Pb and 210Po in moss, characterized by high detection limits or lengthy sample processing. The concentration of 210Pb and 210Po within moss display substantial variations across different regions worldwide, ranging from Collapse

Key Words

• (210)Pb
• (210)Po
• Environmental contamination
• Measurement method
• Moss bioindication

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MESH Headings

• Lead Radioisotopes/analysis
• Polonium/analysis
• Bryophyta/chemistry
• Radiation Monitoring/methods

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Grants Collapse

Affiliation(s)

Chenlu Ding College of Nuclear Technology and Automation Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, PR China
Qiang Yang College of Nuclear Technology and Automation Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, PR China; Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, PR China.
Xue Zhao Chongqing Radiation Environment Supervision and Management Station, Chongqing, 400015, PR China
Lipeng Xu Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, PR China
Hui Tang College of Nuclear Technology and Automation Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, PR China; Sichuan Management and Monitoring Center Station of Radioactive Environment, Chengdu, 611139, PR China
Zhengshang Liu College of Nuclear Technology and Automation Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, PR China
Juan Zhai College of Nuclear Technology and Automation Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, PR China
Qingxian Zhang College of Nuclear Technology and Automation Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, PR China

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A sensitive method to determine 210Po and 210Pb in environmental samples by alpha spectrometry using CuS micro-precipitation

A new sensitive method to determine polonium-210 (210Po) and lead-210 (210Pb) in a diversity of environmental samples was developed. For fresh and marine waters, Po was pre-concentrated using a titanium (III) hydroxide (Ti(OH)3) co-precipitation. Solid environmental samples were digested with nitric acid (HNO3) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The alpha thin layer source was prepared using CuS micro-precipitation and 210Po was measured by alpha spectrometry. Lead-210 was left to decay for up to a year and indirectly measured via its progeny, 210Po. The chemical recoveries for 210Po and 210Pb were high, 90% and 97%, respectively, for a large variety of samples and a very low minimum detectable activity (MDA) was obtained. The method was validated using standardized solutions and certified reference materials.

Detection of Polonium-210 in Environmental, Biological and Food Samples: A Review

Ingestion of polonium-210 from environmental media and food can cause serious health hazards (e.g., gastrointestinal symptoms, tumours, etc.) and has been a public health concern worldwide since the 2006 poisoning of Agent Litvinenko 210Po in Russia. With the development of uranium mining and applications of nuclear technology in recent decades, the radioactive hazards posed by 210Po to living organisms and the environment have become increasingly prominent. In order to strengthen the monitoring of environmental 210Po and protect both the environment and human health, a series of explorations on the methods of 210Po determination have been ongoing by researchers across the globe. However, previous reviews have focused on individual sample types and have not provided a comprehensive account of environmental, food, and biological samples that are closely related to human health. In this work, the sources, health hazards, chemical purification, and detection methods of trace 210Po in different sample types are systematically reviewed. In particular, the advantages and disadvantages of various pretreatment methods are compared, and relevant domestic and international standards are integrated, which puts forward a new direction for the subsequent establishment of rapid, simple, and efficient measurement methods.

Analysis of 210Po, 210Bi, and 210Pb in atmospheric and oceanic samples by simultaneously auto-plating 210Po and 210Bi onto a nickel disc

²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb are commonly measured to study particle cycling and particulate organic carbon export (POC) flux from the upper ocean. ²¹⁰Bi is a potential oceanographic tracer. However, no convenient and rapid analytical method for ²¹⁰Bi has been developed in the marine environment due to its short half-life (5 days). The aims are to study factors influencing the simultaneous auto-plating of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Bi onto nickel disc and to develop an effective ship-board procedure for the rapid measurement of ²¹⁰Po, ²¹⁰Bi, and ²¹⁰ Pb at sea. The results suggest that the optimal conditions for auto-deposition of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Bi were achieved by using a 25 mm diameter nickel disc in 60 mL acidic solution (pH = 0.5) for 16 h at 25 ± 1 °C. By adding ²⁰⁹Po and ²⁰⁷Bi as yield tracers to the sediments, recoveries of Po and Bi were >90%. If ²¹⁰Po or ²¹⁰Bi were in equilibrium with ²¹⁰Pb, ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Bi could also be potential proxies for ²¹⁰Pb in sedimentary chronology. The overall recoveries of ²⁰⁹Po and ²⁰⁷Bi were >70% for rainwaters and >60% for seawater samples, respectively, which indicates this analytical procedure is also applicable to marine and atmospheric environments. This method allows the rapid measurement of ²¹⁰Bi on a ship and help to obtain its vertical profile or spatial distribution in the marine environment within 1-2 days.

Rapid separation of Po-210 from Pb-210 based on the usage of a commercial Sr-Specific chromatographic resin

The efficient extraction of small quantities of ²¹⁰Po is necessary for preparing ²¹⁰Po standard reference materials. Herein, a commercially available strontrium-specific chromatographic resin (Sr spec resin) was used to rapidly and selectively extract ²¹⁰Po from a ²¹⁰Pb-²¹⁰Bi-²¹⁰Po mixture, and the distribution ratios of Pb, Bi, and ²¹⁰Po on Sr spec resin were probed using batch experiments. In contrast to ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Bi, ²¹⁰Po was retained on the Sr spec cartridge in 8 M HCl and was then effectively eluted by 0.1 M HNO₃. The contents of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Bi in the thus obtained ²¹⁰Po solution were checked using a high purity germanium gamma-ray detector and the corresponding decay curve, respectively, and were found not to exceed 2%. Moreover, the ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Bi eluates could be used to regenerate ²¹⁰Po by the same method after a certain time period. Therefore, the extracted ²¹⁰Po solution was suitable for the preparation of the ²¹⁰Po standard area source and ²¹⁰Po standard reference materials.

A rapid method for the sequential separation of polonium, plutonium, americium and uranium in drinking water

A new sequential separation method for the determination of polonium and actinides (Pu, Am and U) in drinking water samples has been developed that can be used for emergency response or routine water analyses. For the first time, the application of TEVA chromatography column in the sequential separation of polonium and plutonium has been studied. This method utilizes a rapid Fe⁺³ co-precipitation step to remove matrix interferences, followed by plutonium oxidation state adjustment to Pu⁴⁺ and an incubation period of ~ 1 h at 50-60 °C to allow Po²⁺ to oxidize to Po⁴⁺. The polonium and plutonium were then separated on a TEVA column, while separation of americium from uranium was performed on a TRU column. After separation, polonium was micro-precipitated with copper sulfide (CuS), while actinides were micro co-precipitated using neodymium fluoride (NdF₃) for counting by the alpha spectrometry. The method is simple, robust and can be performed quickly with excellent removal of interferences, high chemical recovery and very good alpha peak resolution. The efficiency and reliability of the procedures were tested by using spiked samples. The effect of several transition metals (Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, Fe³⁺, Fe²⁺, and Ni²⁺) on the performance of this method were also assessed to evaluate the potential matrix effects. Studies indicate that presence of up to 25 mg of these cations in the samples had no adverse effect on the recovery or the resolution of polonium alpha peaks.

A study on the levels of radioactivity in fish samples from the experimental lakes area in Ontario, Canada

To better understand background radiation levels in country foods, a total of 125 fish samples were collected from three lakes (Lake 226, Lake 302 and Lake 305) in the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in Ontario of Canada during the summer of 2014. Concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides ((226)Ra, (210)Pb and (210)Po) as well as anthropogenic radionuclides ((134)Cs and (137)Cs) were measured. This study confirmed that (210)Po is the dominant contributor to radiation doses resulting from fish consumption. While concentrations of (210)Pb and (226)Ra were below conventional detection limits, (210)Po was measured in almost all fish samples collected from the ELA. The average concentration was about 1.5 Bq/kg fresh weight (fw). None of the fish samples analysed in this study contained any detectable levels of (134)Cs. An average (137)Cs level of 6.1 Bq/kg fw was observed in freshwater fishes harvested in the ELA, almost twice that of samples measured in the National Capital Region of Canada in 2014 and more than 20 times higher than the levels observed in marine fish harvested from the Canadian west coast in 2013 and 2014. However, it is important to note that the concentrations of (137)Cs in fish samples from these inland lakes are considered very low from a radiological protection perspective. The resulting radiation dose for people from fish consumption would be a very small fraction of the annual dose from exposure to natural background radiation in Canada. The results indicate that fishes from inland lakes do not pose a radiological health concern.