Method validation to determine total alpha beta emitters in water samples using LSC

In this work a method was validated to determine gross alpha and beta emitters in water samples using liquid scintillation counter. 200 ml of water from each sample were evaporated to 20 ml and 8 ml of them were mixed with 12 ml of the suitable cocktail to be measured by liquid scintillation counter Wallac Winspectral 1414. The lower detection limit by this method (LDL) was 0.33 DPM for total alpha emitters and 1.3 DPM for total beta emitters. and the reproducibility limit was (+- 2.32 DPM) and (+-1.41 DPM) for total alpha and beta emitters respectively, and the repeatability limit was (+-2.19 DPM) and (+-1.11 DPM) for total alpha and beta emitters respectively. The method is easy and fast because of the simple preparation steps and the large number of samples that can be measured at the same time. In addition, many real samples and standard samples were analyzed by the method and showed accurate results so it was concluded that the method can be used with various water samples. (author)