Proficiency testing of 78 international laboratories measuring tritium in environmental waters by decay counting and mass spectrometry for age dating and water resources assessment.

Rationale: Tritium ( H) is an important hydrological tracer that has been commonly used for over 60 years to evaluate water residence times and water dynamics in shallow/recent groundwaters, streams, lakes and the ocean. We tested the analytical performance of 78 international laboratories engaged in low-level H assays for water age dating and monitoring of environmental waters.

Methods: Seven test waters were distributed by the IAEA to 78 international tritium laboratories.

A laboratory information management system for the analysis of tritium (H) in environmental waters.

Accurate and precise measurements of low levels of tritium (H) in environmental waters are difficult to attain due to complex steps of sample preparation, electrolytic enrichment, liquid scintillation decay counting, and extensive data processing. We present a Microsoft Access™ relational database application, TRIMS (Tritium Information Management System) to assist with sample and data processing of tritium analysis by managing the processes from sample registration and analysis to reporting and archiving. A complete uncertainty propagation algorithm ensures tritium results are reported with robust uncertainty metrics.

Tritium in Japanese precipitation following the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant accident.

Tritium concentrations in Japanese precipitation samples collected after the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP1) were measured. Values exceeding the pre-accident background were detected at three out of seven localities (Tsukuba, Kashiwa and Hongo) southwest of the FNPP1 at distances varying between 170 and 220 km from the source. The highest tritium content was found in the first rainfall in Tsukuba after the accident; however concentrations were 500 times less than the regulatory limit for tritium in drinking water.

Estimation of efficiency of processing soil samples for pesticide residues analysis.

The efficiency of four sample processing methods was tested with eight different types of soils representing the major proportion of cultivated soils. The principle of sampling constant was applied for characterizing the efficiency of the procedures and testing the well-mixed status of the prepared soil. The test material was 14C-labeled atrazine that enabled keeping the random error of analyses View Article and Find Full Text PDF