Trace determination of selenium in biological samples by CH4-Ar mixed gas plasma DRC-ICP-MS

Direct determination of ng g(-1) level of selenium by ICP-MS is complicated because of the presence of serious spectral interferences, and the high first ionization energy of Se (9.75 eV) also results in low analytical sensitivity. In this study, a reliable method for accurate determination of Se in biological samples using CH4-Ar mixed plasma-DRC-MS was evaluated. The predominant interfering Ar-40(2)+ (from ion source) on the most abundant Se-80 isotope was successfully eliminated by the charge transfer reaction using methane as DRC gas. The minor interferences of oxide or hydroxides ions (Zn-64 O-16(+), (NiO+)-Ni-64-O-16 and (CuOH+)-Cu-63-O-16) and double charged ions (Tb-159(2+), Dy-160,161(2+) and Gd-160(2+)) originating from sample matrix were decreased down to 50% using CH4-Ar mixed gas plasma instead of the conversional pure Ar-ICP. Meanwhile, the poor sensitivity of Se+ was improved by a factor of 3 due to the carbon-enhancement effect in CH4-Ar mixed gas plasma. In addition, to avoid the interference (BrH+)-Br-79 on Se-80(+), an elaborate evaporation procedure was used to remove the Br from the digestion solution. The proposed method was applied to direct determination of Se in fifty biologically related SRMs. Our results showed that the values of most SRMs were found to agree well with the certified or recommended values. This method has great potential for the determination of trace or trace level of Se in various biological samples.</p

Level and source of 129I of environmental samples in Xi'an region, China

Iodine-129 is widely used as a tracer in various environmental practices such as monitoring of nuclear environmental safety, seawater exchange and transport, geochemical cycle of stable iodine and dating of geological events. The spatial distribution of (129)I concentration varies significantly on global scale because of anthropogenic input from nuclear activities coupled with scarcity of data on environmental (129)I variability in many parts of the world including Asia. Here we report new data on (129)I and (127)I concentrations in soil, vegetation, river water and precipitation collected from Xi&#39;an area, China. The results indicate values for environmental (129)I/(127)I ratios in the investigated area range from 1.1 x 10(-10) to 43.5 x 10(-10) with a mean of 20.6 x 10(-10), which is 1-3 orders of magnitude lower than the ratios observed in Europe, but comparable with those observed in the locations far from direct effect of point release sources and at similar latitude. The main source of (129)I in the investigated area is attributed to the global fallout of both atmospheric nuclear weapons testing and long distance dispersion of fuel reprocessing releases. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</p

Determination of Low Level 129I in Soil Samples Using Coprecipitation Separation of Carrier Free Iodine and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Measurement

The accurate determination of ultra low level (129)I in sample is critical and essential for the application of natural (129)I in geological dating and environmental tracer studies. In this work, iodine was first separated from soil by combustion at high temperature; the released iodine was collected in an alkali trap solution. AgI-AgCl coprecipitaiton was used to separate carrier free iodine from the trap solution and to prepare target. (129)I in the target was then measured using a 3. 0 MV accelerator mass spectrometer. The recovery of iodine during the combustion is higher than 95%. An iodine recovery of about 75%-85% was obtained in the coprecipitation and the total recovery of iodine is above 70%. The developed method has been successfully used to determine (129)I in soil sample with low iodine content. A (129)I/(127)I atomic ratio as low as 10(-11) in the deep soil has been determined. The determination of (129)I/(127)I was ratio down to 10(-12) in solid samples.</p