-39-
found in plants, birds, and crabs but not in fish rusele nor ‘in
some of the coconuts.
The greatest amount of gr?? round in the
January 1955 samples was e7 x 107° uc/g wet weight of coconut
crab muacle.
Method for Radiostront‘iun Separation.
precipitation method was used,
The fuming nitric acid
the sample being dissolved in
dilute nitric acid anc strcentium cerrier then added.
For the
bird tissves the stront’um was precipitated by increasing the
acid concensration to 72 percent by the addition of 90 percent
nitric acic and stirring for one-half hour.
strontium nitrate was dissolved in water,
The precipitated
,.
scavenged with ferric
hydroxide and precipitated a second time from 72 percent
nitric asid, then counted for strontium radioactivity.
Three
syikes run concurrently with the bird samples gave a yield of
59.2 t 0.9 percent.
Separation of y from the strontium
indicated that one-third to one-half of the total strontium was
strontium-90 as of the counting date, December 1954.
Strontium analyses of samples of coconut meat and milk and
pandanus fruit from the January 1955 collection vere made June 14,
1955.
The procedure was similar to that sbove except that 75
percent nitric acid was used and the scavenge with ferric hydrox-
ide was followed by a scavenge with mixed sulfides ia acid and
in alkaline solution.
Four spikes in non-radioactive fish meal
ash run concurrently with these semples gave a yield of
65.6 £ 5.3 percent.
Four blanks using tae same fisn meal ard
run as a check on the radioactivizy in the meal,
the reagents
and on the glassware gave counts cf ¢, 1, 0, and 0.
‘Yields fron
i