A SIMPLE METHOD FOR SOLUBILITY TESTING OF RADIONUCLIDES ON AIR FILTER

THE SOLUBILITY OF AIRBORNE RADIONUCLIDES IS AN IMPORTANT PARAMETER IN THE ASSESSMENT OF INHALATION HAZARDS IN THE WORKPLACE AND IN THE INTERPRETATION OF ROUTINE BIOASSAY DATA. SOLUBILITY IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN DETERMINING THE METABOLISM OF THE INHALED ISOTOPES AND DISSOLUTION RATES OF ALPHA-EMITTING COMPOUNDS WHICH ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT DUE TO THEIR HIGH RADIOTOXICITY. CURRENT SOLUBILITY TESTING PROTOCOLS ARE SUFFICIENTLY COMPLEX THAT THEY ARE NORMALLY FOUND ONLY IN RESEARCH LABORATORIES. MUCH BENEFIT COULD BE DERIVED FROM THEIR USEIN OPERATING PLANTS. IN THIS WORK WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING SIMPLE LUNG SIMULANT FLUIDS FOR THE SOLUBILITY TESTS, AND STRAIGHTFORWARD SOLVENT EXTRACTION CHEMISTRIES TO TRANSFER THE RADIONUCLIDES FROM THE LUNG FLUID SIMULANT DIRECTLY INTO AN EXTRACTIVE SCINTILLATOR WITH MINIMAL SAMPLE PREPARATION. COUNTING WILL BE PERFORMED ON A BENCHTOP PHOTO-ELECTRON REJECTING ALPHA LIQUID SCINTILLATION (PERALS) SPECTROMETER. THIS LIQUID SCINTILLATION COUNTER IS SMALL YET IT HAS A LOWER LIMIT OF DETECTION OF <0.03PCI UNDER A TYPICAL ALPHA PEAK (ONE HOUR COUNT). IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS WORK WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A KIT FOR THE SOLUBILITY TESTING OF RADIONUCLIDES ON BREATHING ZONE AND MEDIUM VOLUME AIR SAMPLER FILTERS THAT CAN BE USED IN A SIMPLE FIELD LABORATORY.