There are numerous methods available in the literature for separating and analyzing radionuclides of interest from an array of environmental matrices. The quality of these methods is however impeded by the elemental constituents that are commonly found in many of these samples. The presence of interfering constituents can result in incomplete separation of the radioisotopes of interest as well as a reduced rate of recovery. This is especially the case when analyzing complex matrices such as samples of bone and bone ash. Alpha-emitting isotopes of plutonium and americium are bone seekers. This means they have an affinity to accumulate in actively metabolizing portions of bones of many mammals including humans. It is therefore extremely important to study and evaluate the uptake of these radionuclides in human bone samples. Nevertheless, in agreement with literature, high concentrations of calcium present in the hydroxyapatite that constitutes the bone as well as sodium and potassium also present have the potential to strongly affect radiochemical separation methods. The objective of this research is to investigate the influence of the major and minor constituents present in bone on the radioanalytical determination of plutonium and americium using extraction chromatographic resins.

Effect of matrix constituents on the separation of plutonium and americium from bone samples

255th National Meeting (2018)

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