2011 International Nuclear Atlantic Conference - INAC 2011 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, October 24-28, 2011 ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE ENERGIA NUCLEAR - ABEN ISBN: 978-85-99141-04-5 DIRECT QUANTIFICATION OF THORIUM, URANIUM AND RARE EARTH ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS IN NATURAL WATERS BY ICP-MS Helena E. L. Palmieri 1, Eliana A. N. Knupp 1, Lúcia M. L. A. Auler 1, Luiza M. F. Gomes 2, Claudia C. Windmöller 2 1 Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN) Av. Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6627 CAMPUS da UFMG – Pampulha 31270-901 – Belo Horizonte - MG
[email protected] 2 Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)/Departamento de Química, Av. Antonio Carlos 662731270-901 – Belo Horizonte – MG ABSTRACT A direct quantification of the thorium, uranium and rare earth elements in natural water samples using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was evaluated with respect to selection of isotopes, detection limits, accuracy, precision, matrix effects for each isotope and spectral interferences. Accuracy of the method was evaluated by analysis of Spectra pure Standards (SPS-SW1 Batch 116-Norway) for the rare earth elements (REEs), thorium, uranium, scandium and yttrium. The measurements were carried out for each of the following analytical isotopes: 139 La, 140 Ce, 141 Pr, 143Nd, 147 Sm, 151Eu, 160 Gd, 159 Tb, 163 Dy, 165 Ho, 167Er, 169 Tm, 174 Yb, 175 Lu, 45 Sc, 89 Y, 232 Th and 238 U. Recovery percentage values found in these certified samples varied between 95 and 107%. The method was applied to the analysis of spring water samples collected in fountains spread throughout the historical towns of Ouro Preto, Mariana, Sabará and Diamantina in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.