Radiocarbon is a radioactive isotope of carbon with a half-life 5730 years; it is a cosmogenic radionuclide, produced in the upper layer of atmosphere by the reaction of cosmic rays with nitrogen (14N) nuclei (Godwin, 1962; Lal and Peters, 1967; Burchuladze
The radiocarbon laboratory at the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission applies the conventional radiocarbon method, based on benzene synthesis and measurement by liquid scintillation counter. It is a standard method issued by the American Society for Testing and Materials in 2011 with a code ASTM-D 6866-11 Method C (Edler, 2009; ASTM, 2011). Optimization was carried out to test the effectiveness of the lab through the analysis of a set of reference materials and left over proficiency test samples. As well as calibration, normalization of the measurement system was applied, counting regions were set for both Teflon and glass vials and stability of standards used was tested (Baydoun
The method validation is applied in analytical laboratories as an essential part of quality assurance system (Ahmad
As our radiocarbon laboratory is interested to study the impact of human activities on the ecosystem using the radiocarbon content in tree leaves as pollution biomarker, it was important to validate the method used to demonstrate that the procedure, when correctly applied, produces results that are fit for purpose. As wood, tree leaves and grass follows the same working procedure, a representative reference wood sample was used for internal validation.
For internal method validation, a reference wood sample, IAEA-C5 (Różański
Conventional method for benzene synthesis was used (Barker, 1953; Tamers, 1975). This method was widely applied in large number of laboratories and by many scientists (Beramendi-Orosco
Low level liquid scintillation counter, Tri-Carb 3180 TR/SL (QuantaSmart, 2008) was used for radiocarbon measurement. Background, C-14 and H-3 traceable standards of known activities provided by Perkin Elmer were used to carry out normalization that is a part of Instrument Performance Assessment (IPA). This is applied on routine basis (L’Annunziata and Kessler, 2012). Normalization is carried out periodically in order to assess the performance and stability of the measurement system. Standards were counted in 20 consecutive cycles for 20 seconds each (QuantaSmart, 2008). The IPA data and reports are generated automatically by the LSC (QuantaSmart, 2008; L’Annunziata and Kessler, 2012). The main parameters that are checked are the efficiency and background in the carbon and tritium window. Fig. 1 represents the detector background stability over time. The data presented are obtained from weekly measurements made on the same weekday over the period of six months. The counting region optimization was performed to maximize the figure of merit (FOM = E2/B) which was calculated at three counting windows where E is the efficiency and B is the background count rate of the blank (Bronić
Counting region optimization data for glass vial.Counting region Background of blank sample (cpm) Standard (cpm) Efficiency (%) FOM (E2/B) 20–85 0.42 ± 0.04 1072 ± 2 60 8571 15–105 0.63 ± 0.04 1276 ± 2 70 7778 10–95 0.93 ± 0.05 1407 ± 3 77 6375
The purpose of the validation is to verify that the conventional radiocarbon method, used for the determination of radiocarbon content in tree leaves, grass and wood, when applied in our laboratory, fits to its intended use.
Trueness was used to test the closeness of analytical result to the reference value and it was quantified in terms of bias (Taverniers
The precision parameter was applied to test the closeness of independent test results under stipulated conditions (Thompson
Where
The precision was then evaluated based on the coefficient of variation (
For repeatability, benzene synthesis from the reference sample was carried out ten consecutive times, and then, the obtained benzene replicates were counted under identical measurement conditions using the same measured standard and the same background. While for reproducibility, four replicates were prepared and counted with one parameter change (Magnusson and Ornemark, 2014). The changed conditions are the background or blank sample in calculation, count rate of the standard, the scintillator and the counting time from 300 minutes to 150 minutes.
The smallest true net signal that can be reliably detected was expressed in terms of minimum limit of detection (
Where
The Fraction Modern (F14C) was calculated according to Eq. 2.8, where
The main sources of uncertainty that were taken in consideration in this work were the count rates of the sample, standard and background, as well as the mass of standard and the sample. The combined relative standard uncertainty of the Fraction Modern was calculated according to “propagation law” (GUM, 1995; Scott
However, partial uncertainty for quenching correction was considered negligible as the counting geometry of standard and sample is the same. In case of age or Δ14C calculation, one should include standard relative uncertainty of isotope fractionation for δ13C and the half-life of 14C.
Another tool for internal validation and for checking the reliability of results is the application of a quality control procedure based on the benzene synthesis and measurement of reference samples representing different matrices. For this purpose, travertine IAEA C-2, oxalic acid IAEA C-7, barley (D) from the Sixth International Radiocarbon Inter-comparison (SIRI), humic acid (U) and murex shell (R) from the Fifth International Radiocarbon Inter-comparison (VIRI), were analyzed. Results are evaluated based on z-score values. Data are presented in Table 5.
The ten replicates values of F14C, under repeatability conditions were presented in Table 2. Values ranged between 0.22 and 0.24 with a mean value of 0.23. This mean value was used to evaluate the bias, which was found to be 1.51% and hence it was appropriate value as being lower than the acceptable tolerance level 5% stated in the method (ASTM, 2011). For reproducibility, the four replicates F14C values, presented in Table 3, varied between 0.23 and 0.24 with a mean value of 0.24. The data of internal validation for the determination of Fraction Modern were represented in Table 4. The coefficients of variation for evaluating the precision were found to be 2.70% and 3.30% under repeatability and reproducibility conditions respectively. Values lower than the tolerance level of the method, and as consequence data were acceptable. The calculated
The ten Fraction Modern (F14C) values obtained under repeatability condition.Number of repetition Value of F14C 1 0.224 ± 0.006 2 0.241 ± 0.007 3 0.237 ± 0.006 4 0.225 ± 0.006 5 0.242 ± 0.007 6 0.230 ± 0.006 7 0.236 ± 0.006 8 0.240 ± 0.007 9 0.230 ± 0.006 10 0.231 ± 0.006
The four Fraction Modern (F14C) values obtained under reproducibility condition.Number of repetition Value of F14C 1 0.244 ± 0.008 2 0.235 ± 0.006 3 0.227 ± 0.006 4 0.242 ± 0.007
Validation parameters for the determination of Fraction Modern (F14C) by conventional method when counting 4g benzene for 300 minutes. Reference value = pMCreference/100 = 0.2305 ± 0.0002 Reference value = pMCreference/100 = 0.2305 ± 0.0002Validation parameters Value 1.51% Mean 0.23 0.01 0.02 2.70% 0.24 0.01 0.02 3.30% 2.98 0.003 0.58
Reference values, Lab values and z-score values. Reference value = pMC reference/100 tSIE =Transformed Spectral Index of the External Standard, the quench parameterSample Code Sample type Reference value (F14C) σtarget Lab Value (F14C) σLab z-score tSIE D Barley 0.1030 0.0100 0.1038 0.0210 0.04 682 U Humic acid 0.2308 0.0002 0.2298 0.0083 –0.12 683 R Murex shell 0.7334 0.0004 0.7210 0.0176 –0.70 685 IAEA-C2 Travertine 0.4114 0.0003 0.4217 0.0114 0.90 682 IAEA-C7 Oxalic acid 0.4935 0.0012 0.4810 0.0130 –0.96 680
The standard method used for the determination of Fraction Modern was validated, and it was proven that it fits to its intended use. Accuracy and reliability of results for these matrices was increased, as well as performance and credibility of the laboratory was improved.