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The EPA has approved a new test method for radium that will reduce analytical time from 8 hours to 30 minutes.
The Georgia Institute of Technology developed a method of analyzing water samples for radium-226 and radium-228. The EPA required that all drinking water sources be tested for the chemicals by the end of 2007. The old method required four hours for each isotope. The new method accomplishes the same result with about 30 minutes of technician time.
The new method requires two steps. First, hydrochloric acid and barium chloride are added to a sample of water and heated to boiling. Then concentrated sulfuric acid is added and the radium precipitate is collected, dried and weighed. The samples are then counted with a gamma-ray spectrometry system to determine the content of radium-226 and radium-228.
Contact Robert Rosson at (404) 407-6339 or e-mail robert.rossen@gtri.gatech.edu for more information.
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