Production of spiked vegetation samples containing γ-emitting radionuclides for proficiency testing

AbstractThe production of environmental reference materials such as soil, sediment, water and vegetation containing radionuclides for interlaboratory comparison is a vitally important contribution to environmental monitoring. Laboratories that carry out such monitoring need to demonstrate that their results are reliable. The IRD National Intercomparison Program (PNI) produces and distributes reference materials used to check laboratory performance. This work demonstrates the feasibility of producing vegetation (grass) samples containing60Co,65Zn,134Cs, and137Cs by the spiked sample method. The preparation and the statistical testing of the material followed ISO Guide 35 recommendations (ABNT ISO GUIA 35,2012). Grass samples were prepared by two different spiking procedures. The activity concentration in the grass for each radionuclidehad a range of 593 –683 Bq/kg with uncertainty between 0.6 and 6.2%. Both procedures showed similar results.
Source: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Category: Nuclear Medicine Source Type: research