A method has been developed for the quantitative determination of plutonium-241 in exposed personnel through urine analysis, and was designed for use, when necessary, in conjunction with the Hanford plutonium bio-assay technique of alfa-analysis. This method is based on the recovery of plutonium from electro-deposited disks and subsequent extraction of the plutonium from 1 N hydrochloric acid into a liquid scintillator containing dibutyl phosphate. Plutonium-241 beta-emission is detected in a standard liquid scintillation spectrometer, and the yield for plutonium recovery using spiked samples of Pu241 was 85 ± 9 per cent. Samples containing as little as 2.2 × 10-6 microc of Pu241 may be reliably detected, which represents 3.5 per cent of the maximum permissible dose 90 days after personnel exposure.
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J. Donald Ludwick (1961) studied this question.