A rapid field extraction method for determination of radon-222 in natural waters by liquid scintillation counting

Fred W. Leaney, Andrew L. Herczeg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A simple and robust method for determination of 222Rn in natural waters is described. A 1.3-L water sample is collected in a plastic (PET) water bottle and shaken with 20 mL mineral oil scintillant for 4 minutes. Radon preferentially migrates to the mineral oil, and the 222Rn activity is determined by counting 222Rn and the short-lived daughter products 214Po and 218Po using an ultra-low-level LS counter via α/β separation technique. The PET method achieves a detection limit of ~3 mBq L-1, making it an ideal method for analysis of surface water and groundwater samples.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)254-259
Number of pages6
JournalLimnology and Oceanography: Methods
Volume4
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2006
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.

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