A method for simultaneous determination of 210Pb and 212Pb in drinking water samples

Abstract

A sensitive and accurate method for determination of 210Pb and 212Pb in drinking water samples was developed. In the method Pb was pre-concentrated as hydroxides, separated from alkaline earth elements as PbS precipitate, purified by an anion exchange resin chro-matography column, precipitated as PbSC4 for source preparation and counted by a low background β-counter. The procedure was checked with a reference material supplied by the IAEA, and the obtained data were in good agreement with the recommended values, showing the recommended procedure can provide reliable results. The minimum detectable activity of the method was 0.039 mBq L−1 for 210Pb and 0.033 mBq L−1 for 212Pb if a 48 liter of water sample was analyzed. Seventeen drinking water samples were analyzed with a Pb recovery of 88.8 ± 5.5%, and the typical activity concentration was in the range of 0.191–15.1 mBq L−1 for 210Pb and of 1.12–5.77 mBq L−1 for 212Pb.