Utilisation of the Jamaican SLOWPOKE reactor in environmental and health studies

Charles Grant, Johann Antoine

Abstract

Neutron activation analysis, using the SLOWPOKE research reactor at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS), has been employed for a diverse number of applications from archaeology to forensic science. The SLOWPOKE reactor is known for its highly reproducible flux and neutron activation analysis has several inherent advantages including being chemically non-destructive, having a wide linear range of measurement and being less matrix dependent than comparable techniques. These properties have made this method of analysis appropriate for several studies including food composition analysis, dietary intake of trace elements by the Jamaican population, geochemical investigations of the coastal and marine environment and analysis of various human tissues to determine potential overexposure to toxic elements as well as deficiencies of beneficial elements. Results of these investigations have implications for human health, agriculture, trade and industry. The ability of SLOWPOKE to measure a wide range of elements in very different matrices is a distinct advantage in the environmental, food and health programmes conducted by ICENS.

Keywords

neutron activation analysis, SLOWPOKE, research reactor, food, health, Jamaica

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IMEKO TC

TC19 - Environmental Measurements

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