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Towards a low cost lead assay technique for drinking water using CMOS\n sensors

2019/12/20 by A. Deisting, Deisting, Alexander
Health Professions · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies #Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry #Radioactivity and Radon Measurements

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2001.01777

openalex publication_date 2019/12/20 · openalex created_date 2020/08/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

An estimated 26 million people in low- and middle-income countries are at\nrisk of lead exposure and there is no safe threshold for lead ingestion. Radio\nassay methods are not easily accessible in regions at risk, therefore a low\ncost and easy to use sensor is desirable. textrmPb occurs together with\ntraces of radioisotopes with decay energies in the range of 10 to several\n SI100 kilo electronvolt and beyond. Such energies are accessible in\nsilicon sensors. We have tested a scientific CMOS (Neo 5.5 sCMOS), optimised\nfor optical wavelengths, as \γ detector for radiation in the range of 0\nto a few 10 keV. We find a minimal detectable 241 textrmAm decay rate of\n20 Bq for a < 1.4h measurement. Optimising our analysis software will\npotentially enable detecting lower rates in the same measurement time. We\nestablished that the Neo 5.5 sCMOS allows to measure a spectrum of\n241 textrmAm decay lines. In addition we show that it is possible to\nenhance the concentration of radioisotopes in water when reducing the water's\nvolume by boiling. The knowledge gained using the scientific CMOS sensor will\nbe transferred to commercial silicon sensors as the chips in smart phones.\n

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