Literature survey of strontium-89/90 analysis

At the RIVM Laboratory of Radiation Research (LSO), the determination of strontium-89/90 in grass and milk samples using fuming nitric acid is a bottle neck in the routine monitoring programme, mainly due to the use of hazardous chemicals. In recent scientific articles, a number of alternatives have been described. This report gives an overview of the latest developments in this field and compares the pros and cons of these methods. The most promising method appears to be the 'Sr-spec' method developed by EIChrom Industries. In this method, an ion-exchanger is used for sorption of cations from the sample solution and, subsequently, a crown ether on a polymer support is applied for the selective complexation of bivalent strontium ions in the presence of other interfering bivalent ions. An important advantage is that the hazardous fuming nitric acid can be omitted and that the total number of chemical separation steps can be largely reduced. The possibility of a routine application of the 'Sr-spec' method for the determination of strontium-89/90 in grass and milk at RIVM/LSO is proposed. 2 tabs., 1 appendix, 23 refs