Determination of 210Pb, 210Po, 226Ra, 228Ra and uranium isotopes in drinking water in order to comply with the requirements of the EU ‘Drinking Water Directive

Appl Radiat Isot. 2016 Mar:109:465-9. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.11.076.

Abstract

The European Union published in 2013 a new Drinking Water Directive with stricter requirements for measuring natural radioactivity. In order to adhere to this, a method for sequential separation of 210Pb, 210Po, 238U and 234U in drinking water was applied using UTEVA® and Sr resins. Polonium-210, 238U and 234U were quantified using alpha-particle spectrometry and 210Pb using liquid scintillation counting. Radium-226 and 228Ra were determined using 3M Empore Radium RAD Disks, and their quantification was done using a Quantulus™ 1220 liquid scintillation counter.

MeSH terms

  • Drinking Water / analysis*
  • Drinking Water / standards*
  • Environmental Monitoring / standards*
  • European Union
  • Guideline Adherence
  • Guidelines as Topic
  • Radiation Monitoring / standards*
  • Radioisotopes / analysis*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Water Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*

Substances

  • Drinking Water
  • Radioisotopes
  • Water Pollutants, Radioactive