Determination of iodine in plant material by a neutron-activation method

Abstract

A method for the determination of trace amounts of iodine in dry plant material is described. The method is based on the radiochemical separation of iodine-128 using alkaline fusion of the sample in the presence of an iodine carrier, followed by isolation of iodine by a solvent extraction and a precipitation step. The precision of the method is about 5% at the 0.05 p.p.m. level and 10% at the 0.005 p.p.m. level of iodine. Results for two international reference plant materials are reported.