Field deployable technique for 90Sr emergency bioassay.

Area of Science:

• Radiological Health
• Analytical Chemistry
• Nuclear Medicine

Background:

• Rapid bioassay is critical for managing radiological or nuclear emergencies.
• Identifying individuals contaminated with radionuclides like strontium-90 (90Sr) enables prompt medical intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply and evaluate a newly developed field bioassay technique for 90Sr in urine using the portable Triathler instrument.
• To assess the performance of this field technique against established bioassay criteria (ANSI N13.30).

Main Methods:

• Application of a novel urine bioassay technique for 90Sr detection.
• Utilized the field-deployable Triathler instrument for sample analysis.
• Performance evaluation focused on sensitivity, accuracy, and repeatability.

Main Results:

• Achieved a minimum detectable activity of 121 Bq/L with 20 mL urine samples.
• Demonstrated a relative bias of 11.1% and relative precision of 3.2% at 45 Bq/20 mL.
• Reported a sample turnaround time of less than 1 hour.

Conclusions:

• The developed field technique meets requirements for emergency bioassay, supporting intervention at a 0.5 Sv action dose threshold.
• The technique's analytical merits include high sensitivity, accuracy, and speed.
• Automation of this technique could significantly enhance sample throughput for large-scale events.