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Dowell S, Humphrey O, Isaboke J, Barlow T, Blake W, Osano O, Watts M. Plutonium isotopes can be used to model soil erosion in Kenya. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH 2024; 46:338. [PMID: 39073635 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-024-02084-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Climate change poses an immediate threat to tropical soils with changes in rainfall patterns resulting in accelerated land degradation processes. To ensure the future sustainability of arable land, it is essential to improve our understanding of the factors that influence soil erosion processes. This work aimed to evaluate patterns of soil erosion using the activity of plutonium isotopes (Pu) at sites with different land use and clearance scale in the Winam Gulf catchment of Lake Victoria in Kenya. Erosion rates were modelled at potential erosive sites using the MODERN model to understand small-scale erosion processes and the effect of different management practices. The lowest soil redistribution rates for arable land were 0.10 Mg ha-1 yr-1 showing overall deposition, resulting from community-led bottom-up mitigation practices. In contrast erosion rates of 8.93 Mg ha-1 yr-1 were found in areas where steep terraces have been formed. This demonstrates the significance of community-led participation in effectively managing land degradation processes. Another key factor identified in the acceleration of soil erosion rates was the clearance of land with an increased rate of erosion over three years reported (0.45 to 0.82 Mg ha-1 yr-1) underlining the importance vegetation cover plays in limiting soil erosion processes. This novel application of fallout plutonium as a tracer, highlights its potential to inform the understanding of how soil erosion processes respond to land management, which will better support implementation of effective mitigation strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia Dowell
- Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Olivier Humphrey
- Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK
| | - Job Isaboke
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Eldoret, Eldoret, Kenya
| | - Thomas Barlow
- Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK
| | - William Blake
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Odipo Osano
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Eldoret, Eldoret, Kenya
| | - Michael Watts
- Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK.
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French AD, Melby KM, Hobbs KP, Cox RM, Eiden G, Hoppe EW, Arnquist IJ, Harouaka K. The importance of ion kinetic energy for interference removal in ICP-MS/MS. Talanta 2024; 272:125799. [PMID: 38422903 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.125799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
The effect of ion kinetic energy on gas phase ion reactivity with ICP-MS/MS was investigated in order to explore tuning strategies for interference removal. The collision/reaction gases CO2, N2O and O2 were used to observe the ion product distribution for 48 elements using an Agilent tandem ICP-MS (ICP-MS/MS) as a function of reaction gas flow rate (pressure) and ion kinetic energy. The kinetic energy of the incident ion was varied by adjusting the octopole bias (Voct). The three gases all form oxides (MO+) as the primary product with differing reaction enthalpies that result in distinct differences in the ion energies required for reaction with product ion distributions that vary with Voct. Consequently, by varying the ion kinetic energy (i.e., Voct), differences in interference reactivity can be used to achieve maximum separation. Three practical application examples were reported to demonstrate how the ion kinetic energy can be varied to achieve the ideal ion product distribution for interference resolution: CO2 for the removal of 238U in Pu analyses, CO2 for the removal of 40Ar16O vs. 56Fe, and O2 for the removal of Sm in Eu analyses, analogous to Pu/Am. The results demonstrate how the starting ion energy defined by Voct is an important factor to fully leverage the utility of any given reaction gas to remove interferences in the mass spectrum using ICP-MS/MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda D French
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
| | - Kali M Melby
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Kirby P Hobbs
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Richard M Cox
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Greg Eiden
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA; Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, 83415, USA
| | - Eric W Hoppe
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
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Hobbs KP, French AD, Melby KM, Bylaska EJ, Harouaka K, Cox RM, Arnquist IJ, Beck CL. Assessing Gas-Phase Ion Reactivity of 50 Elements with NO and the Direct Application for 239Pu in Complex Matrices Using ICP-MS/MS. Anal Chem 2024; 96:5807-5814. [PMID: 38573874 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Understanding the reactivity of metal cations with various reaction gases in inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) is important to determine the best gas to use for a given analyte/interference pair. In this study, nitric oxide (NO) was investigated as the reaction gas following previous experimental designs. The reactions with 50 elements were investigated to examine periodic trends in reactivity, validate theoretical modeling of reaction enthalpies as a method to screen reactant gases, and provide a baseline data set for potential in-line gas separation methods. ICP-MS/MS studies involving actinides are typically limited to Th, U, and Pu, with analyses of Np and Am rarely reported in the literature. To date, only two previous methods have investigated the use of NO in ICP-MS/MS analyses. To showcase the utility of NO, a method was developed to measure 239Pu in the presence of environmental matrix constituent and other actinides, like what could be expected from postdetonation debris, with no chemical separation prior to analysis. 239Pu+ was reacted to form 239Pu16O+, eliminating interferences derived from the sample matrix by measuring the 239Pu+ intensity at m/z = 255 (239Pu16O+). To validate NO for 238U1H+ interference removal in environmental matrices, standard reference materials were diluted to 1 mg/g of solution and spiked to 0.05 pg/g of 239Pu and 1 μg/g 238U (Pu/U = 5 × 10-8). Measured 239Pu concentrations were within 6% of the spiked value. These results demonstrate that reliable 239Pu measurements can be made at levels relevant to nuclear forensics without the need for extensive chemical matrix separation prior to analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirby P Hobbs
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Amanda D French
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Kali M Melby
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Eric J Bylaska
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Khadouja Harouaka
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Richard M Cox
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Isaac J Arnquist
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Chelsie L Beck
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
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Bradley VC, Ticknor BW, Dunlap DR, Zirakparvar NA, Metzger SC, Hexel CR, Manard BT. Microextraction-TQ-ICP-MS for the Direct Analysis of U and Pu from Cotton Swipes. Anal Chem 2023; 95:15867-15874. [PMID: 37801814 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/08/2023]
Abstract
The microextraction sampling technique was integrated with triple quadrupole─inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (TQ-ICP-MS) to directly sample and measure the isotopic compositions of uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) from cotton swipes. Once extracted, the U/Pu were directed into the TQ-ICP-MS instrument for isotopic determination. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and helium (He) gases were delivered to a collision reaction cell within the ICP-MS system for ion separation. The CO2 reacts with the U+ forming UO+ which is ultimately separated from the Pu+ ions of interest in the third quadrupole. This study demonstrates direct liquid extraction of U/Pu from a solid surface and subsequent measurement by TQ-ICP-MS in <60 s. Flow rates were optimized (0.3 mL min-1 CO2 and 5 mL min-1 He) in the reaction cell of the ICP-MS system to maximize the Pu signal while minimizing U interferences (i.e., 238U+ tail and 238UH+) at m/z 239. Low levels of Pu (∼2 pg) were deposited on a cotton swipe along with U at concentrations ranging from 20 to 200 ng. The 240Pu/239Pu ratio was measured with <7% relative difference from the certified value at all U concentrations. Major and minor U isotope ratios were also measured with <4% relative difference. This highlights that the microextraction-TQ-ICP-MS method can extract a mixed U/Pu sample directly from a cotton swipe and measure both isotopic systems without chemical separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica C Bradley
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Brian W Ticknor
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Daniel R Dunlap
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - N Alex Zirakparvar
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Shalina C Metzger
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Cole R Hexel
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Benjamin T Manard
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
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Matsueda M, Kawakami T, Koarai K, Terashima M, Fujiwara K, Iijima K, Furukawa M, Takagai Y. Using CO 2 Reactions to Achieve Mass-Spectrometric Discrimination in Simultaneous Plutonium-Isotope Speciation with Inductively Coupled Plasma–Tandem Mass Spectrometry. CHEM LETT 2022. [DOI: 10.1246/cl.220160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Makoto Matsueda
- Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science, Fukushima University, 1 Kanayagawa, Fukushima 960-1296, Japan
- Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu-machi, Tamura-gun, Fukushima, 963-7700, Japan
| | | | - Kazuma Koarai
- Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu-machi, Tamura-gun, Fukushima, 963-7700, Japan
| | - Motoki Terashima
- Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu-machi, Tamura-gun, Fukushima, 963-7700, Japan
| | - Kenso Fujiwara
- Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu-machi, Tamura-gun, Fukushima, 963-7700, Japan
| | - Kazuki Iijima
- Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu-machi, Tamura-gun, Fukushima, 963-7700, Japan
| | - Makoto Furukawa
- PerkinElmer Japan Co., Ltd., 134 Godo, Hodogaya, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240–0005, Japan
| | - Yoshitaka Takagai
- Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science, Fukushima University, 1 Kanayagawa, Fukushima 960-1296, Japan
- Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, 1 Kanayagawa, Fukushima, 960-1296 Japan
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Savina MR, Isselhardt BH, Trappitsch R. Simultaneous Isotopic Analysis of U, Pu, and Am in Spent Nuclear Fuel by Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Anal Chem 2021; 93:9505-9512. [PMID: 34185994 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c01360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Solid samples of spent nuclear fuel were analyzed for actinide isotopic composition by resonance ionization mass spectrometry. Isotopes of U, Pu, and Am were simultaneously quantified using a new method that removes and/or resolves the isobaric interferences at 238U/238Pu and 241Pu/241Am without sample preparation other than cutting and mounting small (∼10 μm) samples. Trends in burnup and neutron capture product distributions were correlated with the sampling positions inside the reactor. The results show the skin effect, in which the core and near-edge regions of a fuel pellet exhibit strong differences in actinide concentrations and isotope distributions due to differences in the neutron energy spectra between the pellet rim and the core. While no elemental concentration measurements were made, the ability to measure the 238Pu/239Pu ratio in the presence of a 7400× excess of 238U enabled an estimate of the enhancement in Pu concentration due to the skin effect at the rim of the pellet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael R Savina
- Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States
| | - Brett H Isselhardt
- Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States
| | - Reto Trappitsch
- Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States.,Department of Physics, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02453, United States
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Development of HCl-free solid-phase extraction combined with ICP-MS/MS for rapid assessment of difficult-to-measure radionuclides. Part I: Selective measurement of 93Zr and 93Mo in concrete rubble. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10967-020-07503-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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