Analysis of 36Cl in environmental water samples using an electrostatic accelerator

Abstract

A new atom identification and detection technique for ultrasensitive mass spectrometry has been applied to the radionuclide 36Cl. Measurements of the 36Cl/Cl ratio in AgCl precipitated from six different natural water samples fell in the range 1.2 × 10-13-2 × 10 -12 with a background level below 3 × 10-15. For each sample 70 mg of AgCl was used, requiring 1-51 of water. © 1979 Nature Publishing Group.