Direct measurement of radioactive carbon in vietnamese vodkas by liquid scintillation counter

Hattori, Takamitsu

From the view point of applying to laboratory exercise of radioactivity measurement by a Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC), Vietnamese vodkas have specific features as measurement samples, for example, they are colorless, have high concentration of ethanol, and only very few organic materials are included. Investigation was made to make sure that the Vietnamese vodkas are appropriate or not as a measurement sample for the LSC exercise. Direct measurements of C without any chemical pre-treatment were made on both radioactive concentrations and specific activities of three kinds of Vietnamese vodka and also pure ethanol reagent. The LSC measurements reveal that estimated C concentration is proportional to ethanol concentration in samples and that specific activity of C shows good agreement among the Vietnamese vodkas and pure ethanol, as well as the reference value of 0.25 Bq/g of Carbon. Thus the conclusion is derived that the Vietnamese vodkas can be applied with high accuracy to the LSC exercise as measurement samples.