HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Related articles in JEQ Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Andraski, B. J. Articles by Mayers, C. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Andraski, B. J. Articles by Mayers, C. J. GeoRef GeoRef Citation Agricola Articles by Andraski, B. J. Articles by Mayers, C. J. Related Collections Field-Scale Studies Radionuclides Other Environmental Contamination Plant Analysis Plant and Soil Interactions

TECHNICAL REPORTS
Plant and Environment Interactions

Simplified Method for Detecting Tritium Contamination in Plants and Soil

^a U.S. Geological Survey, 333 West Nye Lane, Room 203, Carson City, NV 89706
^b U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, P.O. Box 25046 MS-407, Lakewood, CO 80225
^c U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS-434 and MS-421, respectively, Menlo Park, CA 94025

^* Corresponding author (andraski{at}usgs.gov)

Received for publication June 24, 2002. Cost-effective methods are needed to identify the presence and distribution of tritium near radioactive waste disposal and other contaminated sites. The objectives of this study were to (i) develop a simplified sample preparation method for determining tritium contamination in plants and (ii) determine if plant data could be used as an indicator of soil contamination. The method entailed collection and solar distillation of plant water from foliage, followed by filtration and adsorption of scintillation-interfering constituents on a graphite-based solid phase extraction (SPE) column. The method was evaluated using samples of creosote bush [Larrea tridentata (Sessé & Moc. ex DC.) Coville], an evergreen shrub, near a radioactive disposal area in the Mojave Desert. Laboratory tests showed that a 2-g SPE column was necessary and sufficient for accurate determination of known tritium concentrations in plant water. Comparisons of tritium concentrations in plant water determined with the solar distillation–SPE method and the standard (and more laborious) toluene-extraction method showed no significant difference between methods. Tritium concentrations in plant water and in water vapor of root-zone soil also showed no significant difference between methods. Thus, the solar distillation–SPE method provides a simple and cost-effective way to identify plant and soil contamination. The method is of sufficient accuracy to facilitate collection of plume-scale data and optimize placement of more sophisticated (and costly) monitoring equipment at contaminated sites. Although work to date has focused on one desert plant, the approach may be transferable to other species and environments after site-specific experiments.

Abbreviations: SPE, graphite-based solid phase extraction

Related articles in JEQ:

This Issue in Journal of Environmental Quality

JEQ 2003 32: 745-750. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. J. Andraski, D. A. Stonestrom, R. L. Michel, K. J. Halford, and J. C. Radyk Plant-Based Plume-Scale Mapping of Tritium Contamination in Desert Soils Vadose Zone J., August 16, 2005; 4(3): 819 - 827. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]