Challenge 3. Implementing analytical methods and technologies to complex scenarios affected by pollutants
There are a high number of scenarios in which adequate analytical determinations are required to quantify the concentration of pollutants, key information for the subsequent decision-making. The analytical approaches need to fit to the purpose of the information required in terms of simplicity, time of analysis, cost or waste generation. Analyses usually focus on providing individual information from each pollutant leading to laborious procedures that are costly in terms of reagents, waste management and time, jeopardizing the efficiency of the decision-making. An aim of the research group has been to develop new strategies of analysis for a rapid evaluation of the situation of polluted areas. At present, the group is mainly focused on complex and relevant scenarios affected by radioactivity such as emergency situations, environmental monitoring, contaminated sites with naturally occurring radionuclides materials (NORM) derived from industrial activities or decommissioning of nuclear installations. New analytical methods and technologies will focus on the use of selective resins, developed in the group and based on plastic scintillators, to simplify analysis of alpha and beta emitters; spectra deconvolution based on chemometrics tools to solve complex mixtures of radionuclides; or screening parameters such as gross alpha, gross beta or gross gamma using liquid and solid scintillation, to define indexes that provide fast information on the risk associated to a certain polluted scenario.
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