A novel technique for the simultaneous determination of 210Pb and 210Po using a crown ether

A simple radiochemical procedure has been developed to separate lead and polonium simultaneously from different environmental and biological materials. After adding 208Po tracer and lead carrier samples are decomposed using mineral acids. Lead and polonium are selectively retained from 2m HCl solution by the bis-4,4′(5′)-t-butyl-cyclohexano-18-crown-6-ether; polonium is stripped with 6 m HNO3 while lead is stripped with 6 m HCL solution. A polonium source is prepared by spontaneous deposition onto a silver disk. The activity concentration of 210Po is determined by isotope dilution alpha spectrometry. Lead is precipitated as oxalate; the chemical recovery is determined by gravimetry. The activity concentration of 210Pb is calculated from the liquid scintillation spectrum.