Measurement of low-level radioactivity in bone ash

Bone is a critical organ for the accumulation of many radionuclides includi ng Sr-90 and the actinides. The National Institute of Standards and Technol ogy (NIST) has prepared bone ash samples with a view to producing a standar d reference material. The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurement s (IRMM) participated in the analysis for the certification of the radionuc lide concentrations in the bone ash. This article describes the assaying of the actinides, Sr-90, Pb-210 and Ra-226 activity concentrations. A radioch emical procedure based on extraction chromatography has been developed to s eparate these radionuclides from the bone ash. The activity concentrations of the actinides, Pb-210 and Ra-226 have been measured using gamma-ray spec trometry and alpha-particle spectrometry and that of Sr-90 using low-level liquid scintillation counting. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.