Yoshii Hiroshi, Takamura Kodai, Uwatoko Tetsuaki, Sakai Yasuhiro
National Institute of Radiological Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan.
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Toho University, 2-2-1 Miyama, Funabashi 274-8510, Japan.
Membranes (Basel). 2023 Mar 3;13(3):299. doi: 10.3390/membranes13030299.
In the event of uranium release into the environment due to an accident, confirming the presence of uranium contamination is difficult because uranium is a naturally occurring element. In this study, we developed a method based on X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for the facile screening of uranium in brackish water samples in the event of an accident in a coastal area. Graphene oxide nanosheets were added to uncontaminated brackish water sampled from different sites to adsorb the uranium present in the samples, if any. The graphene oxide nanosheets were then collected using a membrane filter and analyzed using XRF. The results revealed that the signal intensity of the U Lα peak was proportional to the salinity. Hence, uranium contamination could be confirmed when the intensity of the U Lα peak was significantly greater than that derived from the background uranium content, as estimated from the salinity value. Thus, in the event of an accident, the salinity of the collected brackish water should be measured, and XRF analysis should be performed using our developed method. This method is useful for screening brackish water for uranium contamination.
如果因事故导致铀释放到环境中，由于铀是一种天然存在的元素，确认铀污染的存在很困难。在本研究中，我们开发了一种基于X射线荧光（XRF）的方法，用于在沿海地区发生事故时对微咸水样本中的铀进行便捷筛查。将氧化石墨烯纳米片添加到从不同地点采集的未受污染的微咸水中，以吸附样本中可能存在的铀。然后使用膜过滤器收集氧化石墨烯纳米片，并通过XRF进行分析。结果表明，U Lα峰的信号强度与盐度成正比。因此，当U Lα峰的强度显著高于根据盐度值估算的背景铀含量所产生的强度时，即可确认铀污染。所以，在发生事故时，应测量所收集微咸水的盐度，并使用我们开发的方法进行XRF分析。该方法对于筛查微咸水中的铀污染很有用。
