Offline radionuclide detection

Long-lived radionuclides occur at extremely low concentrations, especially in environmental samples, therefore several authors have proposed matrix separation and enrichment of the analytes before analysis.21,24,26,3 39 Radiochemical methods often require very careful and time consuming separation and enrichment processes and measurement procedures of a-, (3- and -emitting radioactive species at the trace and ultratrace level using conventional radioanalytical techniques 40-43 Trace/matrix separation, which is performed offline or online in order to avoid possible isobaric interferences, matrix effects and to reduce the detection limits for the determination of long-lived radionuclides, is also advantageous before ICP-MS measurements as the most widely applied mass spectrometric technique. 

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