NUCLEAR AND ALTERNATIVE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is a powerful technique for monitori ng trace contaminants in the environment, particularly when radiochemi cal separation procedures are applied to improve the limits of detecti on. The developments in newer techniques for trace inorganic contamina nts, such as inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry ( ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ar e complementary to NAA, and the three methods can be used to measure a comprehensive range of trace elements and sample types over a broad r ange of concentrations. At CARE, the ICP techniques are used to detect the elements which are difficult by NAA, to improve the sensitivity f or other elements, and to analyze liquid samples containing very low c oncentrations of the elements of interest. Conversely, NAA is used to analyze materials which are difficult to dissolve and volatile element s which are lost on dissolution. This paper describes environmental ap plications of NAA, ICP-AES, and ICP-MS techniques, in particular for a range of sample types including road dust, vegetation, plastics, and paint.