ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN MONITORING OF AM-241 UTILIZING EXTRACTION CHROMATOGRAPHY AND ALPHA-SPECTROMETRY

Recent developments in extraction chromatography have simplified the s eparation of americium from complex matrices in preparation for alpha- spectroscopy relative to traditional methods. Here we present results of procedures developed/adapted for water, air, and bioassay samples w ith less than 1 g of inorganic residue. Prior analytical methods requi red the use of a complex, multistage procedure for separation of ameri cium from these matrices. The newer, simplified procedure requires onl y a single 2 mL extraction chromatographic separation for isolation of Am and lanthanides from other components of the sample. This method h as been implemented on an extensive variety of ''real'' environmental and bioassay samples from the Los Alamos area, and consistently reliab le and accurate results with appropriate detection limits have been ob tained. The new method increases analytical throughput by a factor of similar to 2 and decreases environmental hazards from acid and mixed-w aste generation relative to the prior technique. Analytical accuracy, reproducibility, and reliability are also significantly improved over the more complex and laborious method used previously.