Volume reduction of water samples to increase sensitivity for radioassay of lead contamination

• DOI: 10.1007/s13201-022-01669-5
• Publication Date: 2022-05-06T09:06:23Z
• Authors: A. Aguilar-Arevalo; C. Canet; M. A. Cruz-Pérez; A. Deisting; A. Dias; J. C. D’Olivo; F. Favela-Pérez; E. A. Garcés; A. González Muñoz; J. O. Guerra-Pulido; J. Mancera-Alejan...; D. J. Marín-Lámbarri; M. Martinez Montero; J. R. Monroe; S. Paling; S. J. M. Peeters; P. R. Scovell; C. Türkoğlu; E. Vázquez-Jáuregui; J. Walding
• Keywords: Semiconductor detector; Tap water

The World Health Organisation (WHO) presents an upper limit for lead in drinking water of 10 parts per billion ppb. Typically, to reach this level sensitivity, expensive metrology is required. To increase the sensitivity low cost devices, paper explores prospects using a volume reduction technique boiled sample doped with Lead-210 ($^{210}Pb$), as means solute's concentration. $^{210}$Pb radioactive isotope and its concentration can be measured e.g. High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors at Boulby Underground Suite. Concentrations close WHO have not been examined. This measurement retaining $99\pm(9)\%$ starting from $1.9\times10^{-6}$ ppb before resulting $2.63\times10^{-4}$ after reduction. work also applies London tap reports radioassay results gamma counting HPGe detectors. Among other radio-isotopes, $^{40}$K, $^{210}$Pb, $^{131}$I $^{177}$Lu were identified concentrations $2.83\times10^{3}$ ppb, $2.55\times10^{-7}$ $5.06\times10^{-10}$ $5.84\times10^{-10}$ sample. retained $90\pm50\%$ $^{40}$K. Stable was inferred same 0.012 prior