Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 25 No 3 (2021): 498 - 507

 

 

 

 

²¹⁰PO DETERMINATION IN URINE SAMPLES AMONG RADIATION WORKERS BY ALPHA SPECTRUM ANALYSIS

 

(Penentuan ²¹⁰Po dalam Sampel Urin di Kalangan Pekerja Sinaran Melalui Analisis Spektrum Alpha)

 

Nurrul Assyikeen Md. Jaffary*, Nurul Zakila Azlan, Jalal Sharib @ Sarip, Mohd Tarmizi Ishak, Zulkifli Daud, Mohd Izwan Abdul Adziz

 

Radiochemistry and Environmental Laboratory, Waste and Environmental Technology Division,

Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author:  assyikeen@nuclearmalaysia.gov.my

 

 

Received: 26 April 2021; Accepted: 11 June 2021; Published:  27 June 2021

 

 

Abstract

The radioactivity of ²¹⁰Po in the urine sample of radiation workers working in radiochemical laboratory, Malaysian Nuclear Agency, was determined. Collected urine samples have to go through the hot acid dissolution process followed by the auto-deposition technique using HCl as the solution. Measurements using the alpha spectrometry system showed good ²⁰⁹Po retrieval, while ²¹⁰Po determination has no interference by other natural radionuclides. The specific radioactivity of ²¹⁰Po was determined from 1.33 mBqL^-1 to 49.84 mBqL^-1. This preliminary study was conducted to obtain reference data as part of methods development for further investigations in emergencies. The assessment of the data findings in terms of radiation safety was done. Such radioactivity measurement procedure would also be applying for the routine ²¹⁰Po analysis in the urine.

Keywords:  polonium isotopes, radioactivity, radiochemical separation, alpha spectrometry, bioassay

Abstrak

Radioaktiviti ²¹⁰Po dalam sampel urin pekerja radiasi yang bekerja di makmal radiokimia, Agensi Nuklear Malaysia telah ditentukan. Sampel urin yang dikumpulkan mesti melalui proses pembubaran asid panas diikuti dengan teknik pemendapan-auto menggunakan HCl sebagai medium larutan. Pengukuran menggunakan sistem spektrometri alpha menunjukkan dapatan semula ²⁰⁹Po yang baik, sementara penentuan ²¹⁰Po tiada gangguan daripada kehadiran radionuklida semula jadi yang lain. Radioaktiviti spesifik ²¹⁰Po telah ditentukan dari 1.33 mBqL^-1 hingga 49.84 mBqL^-1. Kajian awal ini dilaksanakan untuk mendapatkan data rujukan sebagai sebahagian dari pengembangan kaedah bagi situasi kecemasan. Penilaian ke atas dapatan data dari segi keselamatan radiasi telah dilakukan. Prosedur pengukuran radioaktif seperti ini juga digunakan untuk aktiviti analisis rutin ²¹⁰Po dalam sampel urin.

 

Kata kunci:  isotop polonium, radioaktiviti, pemisahan radiokimia, spektrometri alfa, bioasai

 

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