Recent progresses in analytical method development for Pb in environmental and biological samples.

As a decay product of uranium series, Pb spreads widely in the nature and imposes strong radiological and chemical toxicity. It is vital to establish reliable and efficient radioanalytical methods for Pb determination to support environment and food radioactivity monitoring programs. This article critically reviews analytical methods developed for determining Pb in environmental and biological samples, especially new development in recent years. Techniques applied throughout different analytical steps including sample pretreatment, separation, purification, and detection are summarized and their pros and cons are discussed to provide a holistic overview for Pb environmental and biological assay.