Determination of uranium and polonium in Sparus aurata by alpha spectrometry

The aim of this study was optimizing conditions for the specific activities determination of some uranium-series radionuclides present in Sparus aurata by alpha spectrometry. Determinations of specific activities were conducted varying the type of digestion: acid attack on hot plate, controlled micr...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: M. Luna Porres, G. Manjón Collado, I. Díaz, M. Rentería, M.E. Montero Cabrera
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2012
Country:México
Institution:Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados
Repository:Redalyc-CIMAV
OAI Identifier:oai:redalyc.org:57023406009
Online Access:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=57023406009
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Física, Astronomía y Matemáticas
fish
Uranium
polonium
alpha spectrometry
Description
Summary:The aim of this study was optimizing conditions for the specific activities determination of some uranium-series radionuclides present in Sparus aurata by alpha spectrometry. Determinations of specific activities were conducted varying the type of digestion: acid attack on hot plate, controlled microwave digestion and acid attack after calcination of the sample. The latter procedure was applied only to the case of uranium isotopes determination. The variation in the isotope extraction method consisted of applying the techniques of liquid-liquidextraction using Tributyl phosphate (TBP) or chromatographic UTEVA resin. Results depending on the type of treatment given to the samples were compared based on obtained chemical yields. The results reveal a higher bioaccumulation of polonium in the liver sample, with activities of 0.809, 2.495 and 2.439 Bq kg¡1 fresh wt compared with the fillet. The best chemical yields for polonium were close to 60% for samples that were digested by microwave. In the case of uranium the best chemical yields, close to 80% for fillet, were obtained with a previous calcination of the sample and using the UTEVA resin.