Concerns over radioactive food contamination from nuclear and radiological activities rise considerably with aging nuclear power plants, continuing nuclear proliferation, and potential breach in safeguarding nuclear materials.  To ensure food safety in the event of an accidental or intentional release of radioactive materials, a solid-phase extraction liquid scintillation counting technique is developed and validated to simultaneously detect foodborne alpha/beta radionuclides that are mostly concerned and difficult to detect.  An inter-laboratory study, participated by 11 food emergency response network laboratories, is conducted with wide range of foods spiked with alpha/beta radioactivity.  This paper presents insights on experimental approach, method performance characteristics, and current network capability.  The study results show that the method is robust and suitable for high-throughput sample analysis.  The developed method allows an adequate assessment of alpha/beta radioactivity in foods in the first 24-hrs after the incident which significantly enhances the FDA's ability in ensuring food safety and protecting public health.

Method development and interlaboratory study for screening alpha and beta radioactivity in foods

245th National Meeting (2013)

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