Monitoring of environmental pollution using neutron activation analysis

The principles are presented of neutron activation analysis and experimental procedures used for analysing coal, emissions, ash, fly ash, aerosols, hair and soil. The procedure is as follows: sampling, sample storage, preparation and irradiation in reactor, instrumental neutron activation analysis, measurement of gamma spectra and evaluation of results. The detection limits are given for determining As, Br, Ca, Cd, Cl, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mn, Na, Ni, Sb, Se, V, Zn in coal, fly ash, soil, aerosol and hair. The method shows high sensitivity, accuracy and allows the determination of a great number of elements. (J.P.)