Development of the Procedure for Simultaneous Determination of Vanadium, Uranium and Manganese in Biological Materials Using RNAA

Urška Repinc¹* and Ljudmila Benedik^1,2

¹ Jožef Stefan Institute, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
² EC JRC IRMM, Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel, Belgium
* Corresponding author: E-mail: urska.repinc@ijs.si
Tel.: +386 1 58 85 347, Fax: +386 1 58 85 346

Abstract
Radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA) for simultaneous determination of V, U and Mn at trace levels in biological materials is described. This method is based on short irradiation of the sample together with standards and sequential separations of the induced nuclides based on selective solvent extractions. According to the very short half-lives of the induced nuclides, it is necessary to complete the separation of V first, then U and finally Mn. The chemical yield of the radiochemical procedure for each radionuclide was determined spectrophotometrically or by a use of a suitable tracer. The method was tested by the analysis of available reference materials that are commonly used as quality control materials for the determination of trace element content in food samples.

Keywords: Vanadium, uranium, manganese, reference materials, RNAA, INAA