Determination of Fluorine in Vegetation by Proton Activation Analysis

Abstract

Techniques have been developed for proton activation analysis using the ¹⁹F(p,p′y)¹⁹F reaction to measure the fluorine content of pulverized samples of vegetation which have been exposed to fluorides in the atmosphere or soil. The method is non-destructive and neither the chemical form of fluorine in the sample nor the type of vegetation analyzed appears to affect results. Calibration is performed by analyzing samples to which known amounts of fluorine are added. The fluorine content of 11 vegetation samples was determined by proton activation analysis and by standard chemical techniques. The values obtained by the two methods were in generally good agreement. Fluorine concentrations greater than 1 ppm can be measured with uncertainties ranging from about 50% at 5 ppm to less than 10% at concentrations above 50 ppm.