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§141.25 Analytical methods for radioactivity.

Link to an amendment published at 65 FR 76745, December 7, 2000.

(a) Analysis for the following contaminants shall be conducted to determine compliance with §§141.15 and 141.16 (radioactivity) in accordance with the methods in the following table, or their equivalent determined by EPA in accordance with §141.27.

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                                                                                                         Reference (method or page number)
          Contaminant              Methodology    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      EPA \1\       EPA \2\       EPA \3\       EPA \4\              SM \5\               ASTM \6\         USGS \7\       DOE \8\       Other
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naturally occurring:
    Gross alpha\11\ and beta..  Evaporation......  900.0.......  p 1.........  00-01.......  p 1.........  302, 7110 B..............  ...............  R-1120-76......               ...........
    Gross alpha\11\...........  Co-precipitation.  ............  ............  00-02.......  ............  7110 C...................                                                 ...........
    Radium 226................  Radon emanation..  903.1.......  p 16........  Ra-04.......  p 19........  305,7500-Ra C............  D 3454-97......  R-1141-76......  Ra-04......  N.Y.\9\
                                Radiochemi- cal..  903.0.......  p 13........  Ra-03.......  ............  304,7500-Ra B............  D 2460-97......  R-1140-76......               ...........
    Radium 228................  Radiochemi- cal..  904.0.......  p 24........  Ra-05.......  p 19........  7500-Ra D................  ...............  R-1142-76......  ...........  N.Y.\9\,
                                                                                                                                                                                      N.J.\10\
    Uranium\12\...............  Radiochemi- cal..  908.0.......  ............  ............  ............  7500-U B
                                Fluorometric.....  908.1.......  ............  ............  ............  7500-U C (17th Ed.)......  D2907-97.......  R-1180-76, R-    U-04
                                                                                                                                                        1181-76.
                                Alpha              ............  ............  00-07.......  p 33........  7500-U C (18th, 19th or    D 3972-97......  R-1182-76......  U-02
                                 spectrometry.                                                              20th Ed.).
                                Laser              ............  ............  ............  ............  .........................  D 5174-97......                                ...........
                                 Phosphorimetry.
Man-made:
    Radioact-.................  Radiochemi-......  901.0.......  p 4.........  ............  ............  7500-CsB.................  D 2459-72......  R-1111-76......               ...........
    ive cesium................  cal..............
                                Gamma ray          901.1.......  ............  ............  p 92........  7120.....................  D 3649-91......  R- 1110-76.....  4.5.2.3....  ...........
                                 spectrometry.
    Radioact-.................  Radiochemi-......  902.0.......  p 6, p 9....  ............  ............  7500-I B, 7500-I C, 7500-  D 3649-91......
    ive iodine................  cal..............                                                           I D.
                                Gamma ray          901.1.......  ............  ............  p 92........  7120.....................  D 4785-93......  ...............  4.5.2.3....  ...........
                                 spectrometry.
    Radioact-.................  Radiochemi-......  905.0.......  p 29........  Sr-04.......  p 65........  303, 7500-Sr B...........  ...............  R-1160-76......  Sr-01, Sr-   ...........
    ive Strontium 89, 90......  cal..............                                                                                                                        02
    Tritium...................  Liquid             906.0.......  p 34........  H-02........  p 87........  306, 7500-3H B...........  D 4107-91......  R-1171-76......
                                 scintillation.
    Gamma emitters............  Gamma ray........  901.1.......  ............  ............  p 92........  7120.....................  D 3649-91......  R-1110-76......  Ga-01-R....  ...........
                                Spectrometry.....  902.0, 901.0  ............  ............  ............  7500-Cs B, 7500-I B......  D 4785-93......
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The procedures shall be done in accordance with the documents listed below. The incorporation by reference of documents 1 through 10 was approved by the Director of the Federal Register in
  accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies of the documents may be obtained from the sources listed below. Information regarding obtaining these documents can be obtained from
  the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791. Documents may be inspected at EPA's Drinking Water Docket, EPA West, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room B135, Washington, DC (Telephone: 202-
  566-2426); or at the Office of the Federal Register, 800 North Capitol Street, NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC.
\1\ ``Prescribed Procedures for the Measurement of Radioactivity in Drinking Water'', EPA 600/4-80-032, August 1980. Available at the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical
  Information Service (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161 (Telephone 800-553-6847), PB 80-224744.
\2\ ``Interim Radiochemical Methodology for Drinking Water'', EPA 600/4-75-008(revised), March 1976. Available NTIS, ibid. PB 253258.
\3\ ``Radiochemistry Procedures Manual'', EPA 520/5-84-006, December, 1987. Available NTIS, ibid. PB 84-215581.
\4\ ``Radiochemical Analytical Procedures for Analysis of Environmental Samples'', March 1979. Available at NTIS, ibid. EMSL LV 053917.
\5\ ``Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater'', 13th, 17th, 18th, 19th Editions, or 20th edition, 1971, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998. Available at American Public Health
  Association, 1015 Fifteenth Street NW., Washington, DC 20005 . Methods 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306 are only in the 13th edition. Methods 7110B, 7500-Ra B, 7500-Ra C, 7500-Ra D, 7500-U B, 7500-
  Cs B, 7500-I B, 7500-I C, 7500-I D, 7500-Sr B, 7500-3H B are in the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th editions. Method 7110 C is in the 18th, 19th and 20th editions. Method 7500-U C Fluorometric
  Uranium is only in the 17th Edition, and 7500-U C Alpha spectrometry is only in the 18th, 19th and 20th editions. Method 7120 is only in the 19th and 20th editions. Methods 302, 303, 304,
  305 and 306 are only in the 13th edition.
\6\ Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 11.01 and 11.02, 1999; ASTM International any year containing the cited version of the method may be used. Copies may be obtained from ASTM
  International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428.
\7\ ``Methods for Determination of Radioactive Substances in Water and Fluvial Sediments'', Chapter A5 in Book 5 of Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations of the United States Geological
  Survey, 1977. Available at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Information Services, Box 25286, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225-0425.
\8\ ``EML Procedures Manual'', 28th (1997) or 27th (1990) Editions, Volumes 1 and 2; either edition may be used. In the 27th Edition Method Ra-04 is listed as Ra-05 and Method Ga-01-R is
  listed as Sect. 4.5.2.3. Available at the Environmental Measurements Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 376 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3621.
\9\ ``Determination of Ra-226 and Ra-228 (Ra-02)'', January 1980, Revised June 1982. Available at Radiological Sciences Institute for Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of
  Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201.
\10\ ``Determination of Radium 228 in Drinking Water'', August 1980. Available at State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Environmental Quality, Bureau of
  Radiation and Inorganic Analytical Services, 9 Ewing Street, Trenton, NJ 08625.
\11\ Natural uranium and thorium-230 are approved as gross alpha calibration standards for gross alpha with co-precipitation and evaporation methods; americium-241 is approved with co-
  precipitation methods.
\12\ In uranium (U) is determined by mass, a 0.67 pCi/mg of uranium conversion factor must be used. This conversion factor is based on the 1:1 activity ration of U-234 and U-238 that is
  characteristic of naturally occurring uranium.

(b) When the identification and measurement of radionuclides other than those listed in paragraph (a) of this section is required, the following references are to be used, except in cases where alternative methods have been approved in accordance with §141.27.

(1) Procedures for Radiochemical Analysis of Nuclear Reactor Aqueous Solutions, H. L. Krieger and S. Gold, EPA-R4-73-014. USEPA, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1973.

(2) HASL Procedure Manual, Edited by John H. Harley. HASL 300, ERDA Health and Safety Laboratory, New York, NY., 1973.

(c) For the purpose of monitoring radioactivity concentrations in drinking water, the required sensitivity of the radioanalysis is defined in terms of a detection limit. The detection limit shall be that concentration which can be counted with a precision of plus or minus 100 percent at the 95 percent confidence level (1.96σ where σ is the standard deviation of the net counting rate of the sample).

(1) To determine compliance with §141.15(a) the detection limit shall not exceed 1 pCi/1. To determine compliance with §141.15(b) the detection limit shall not exceed 3 pCi/1.

(2) To determine compliance with §141.16 the detection limits shall not exceed the concentrations listed in Table B.

 Table B_Detection Limits for Man-made Beta Particle and Photon Emitters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Radionuclide                        Detection limit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tritium...................................  1,000 pCi/1.
Strontium-89..............................  10 pCi/1.
Strontium-90..............................  2 pCi/1.
Iodine-131................................  1 pCi/1.
Cesium-134................................  10 pCi/1.
Gross beta................................  4 pCi/1.
Other radionuclides.......................  \1/10\ of the applicable
                                             limit.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(d) To judge compliance with the maximum contaminant levels listed in §§141.15 and 141.16, averages of data shall be used and shall be rounded to the same number of significant figures as the maximum contaminant level for the substance in question.

(e) The State has the authority to determine compliance or initiate enforcement action based upon analytical results or other information compiled by their sanctioned representatives and agencies.

[41 FR 28404, July 9, 1976, as amended at 45 FR 57345, Aug. 27, 1980; 62 FR 10173, Mar. 5, 1997; 67 FR 65250, Oct. 23, 2002]



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