The present study highlights the challenges for reliable
analysis of uranium in natural waters using laser-induced
fluorimetry/LED-fluorimetry in the presence of fluoride and diverse humic
substances in hot arid regions. Uranium is present in the environment as a
result of leaching from natural deposits, release in mill tailings, and
emissions from the nuclear industry, the combustion of coal and other fuels and
the use of phosphate fertilizers that contain uranium. Complete preservation of
samples, whether domestic wastewater or natural water, is a practical
impossibility. After sample collection, changes in dynamic equilibrium cause
the physico-chemical and biological changes to continue unavoidably. This
justifies the requirement for the application of a mobile geochemistry
laboratory for rapid on-site water sample analysis, ideally completed the same
day. Laser-induced fluorimetry/pulsed LED-fluorimetry is a well-documented,
highly sensitive, and versatile technique for the determination of uranium in
water samples at µg L−1 levels, and in fact, it is more challenging due to a
wide variety of water samples differing in total dissolved salts including
saline water, diverse humic substances and fluoride content especially in hot
arid regions as well as due to the practical impossibility of preserving
natural water samples. As a result, in hot, dry climates, the most important
criterion for an accurate uranium assay is the amount of time that passes
between sample collection and analysis.
Greater variance in major cations and anions, as well as uranium
concentration, is observed in water samples with high TDS in relation to the
time interval between sample collection and analysis. Furthermore, approved
reference material for these matrices is unavailable, making it difficult to
double-check or guarantee the accuracy of the results. Beyond doubt,
LED-fluorimetry is a portable device more suitable for field conditions as well
as in control laboratory, easy equipment calibration/standardization, high
sensitivity, better reproducibility, cost-effective, eco-friendly,
traceability, comparability.
Author(s) Details:
D. P. S. Rathore
Department of Atomic
Energy, Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, Jaipur
302033, Rajasthan, India.
P. K.
Tarafder
Department of
Atomic Energy, Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research,
Jamshedpur 831002, Jharkhand, India.
V.
Balaram
CSIR-National
Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad 500 007, Telangana, India.
Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/STRUFP-V5/article/view/14864
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