Comparison of radium-226 separation methods based on chromatographic and extraction resins for its determination by ICP-MS in drinking waters

Over the past century, human activities have contributed to the release of 226Ra (t1/2 = 1,600 y) in the environment, increasing the potential risks for human exposure and thus prompting scientists to monitor it. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is an alternative to alpha-spectrometry for the quantification of 226Ra. However, the performances of radioanalytical procedures are rarely compared in a rigorous framework, which means that researchers may choose one on subjective factors or guesses.This article compares five published methods for the separation and preconcentration of 226Ra in drinking waters based on chromatographic and extraction resins prior to its analysis by ICP-MS. We evaluated the turnaround time, generated wastes, and final cost of each protocol as the economic aspect can be an important criterion when selecting a method, particularly for sustainable environmental monitoring. Our results showed that 226Ra was successfully separated and preconcentrated, yielding recoveries ranging between 84% and 105%. Method detection and quantification limits of respectively 2-7 fg L-1 (0.1-0.3 mBq L-1) and 6-24 fg L-1 (0.2-0.9 mBq L-1) were achieved when the separation method was coupled with ICP-MS. The turnaround times ranged between 6 and 21 hours, whereas the cost of the methods varied between 40 and 132 USD.This study highlights for the first time that methodologies recently published on the evaluation of 226Ra levels in drinking water by ICP-MS have comparable figures of merit. Our results offer essential insights into the selection of the most suitable separation method.