IAEA identifies environmental contamination sources through isotopes

The identification of sources of environmental contamination can be done by an isotopic abundance, an isotopic ratio analysis.

Isotopes are an invaluable tool in geochemistry, but also for modern environmental forensics. For example, sediment cores can be dated using different radioactive isotopes of lead and their decay product. In the present study, the age of the different sediment depths was established based on the ratio of one of the radiogenic isotopes of lead and its decay product using a gamma counter. Read more.