Reassessment of 239Pu on planchets from human urine samples at ultra-trace levels using Aridus-ICPSFMS and AMS

Abstract

New analytical methods developed at the facilities here, based on two ultra-sensitive mass spectrometry (MS) techniques, inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometer with a desolvator system (Aridus-ICP-SFMS) and accelerator MS (AMS), have been applied in this work for the reassessment of 239Pu in alpha spectrometry (AS) planchets corresponding to spiked human urine samples. The obtained 239Pu minimum detectable activities (MDAs) values by Aridus-ICP-SFMS and AMS were 3 fg (∼6.92 µBq) and 0.4 fg (∼0.92 µBq), respectively, per sample, which are much better than those attainable by AS [50 fg (∼115.3 µBq) of 239Pu per sample, approximately]. Therefore, it is demonstrated that the MS techniques employed in this work are very powerful tools for internal dosimetry studies in human urine samples, giving excellent results when the reassessment of AS planchets is needed (samples with a Pu concentration below or at the MDA levels measurable by AS). This work is the continuation of an article published in J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 25 (1410–1415) 2010.