Determination of gross alpha and beta activities in seawater and plankton from the Upper Gulf of Thailand

Gross alpha and beta activities were determined in seawater and plankton samples collected during the wet and dry seasons from 10 different sampling stations in Chonburi, the Upper Gulf of Thailand. Seawater samples were sampling, 1 km from the coastal and 2 m below the water surface, during July 2008 to July 2009. Seawater samples were prepared by coprecipitation technique. Plankton samples were prepared by filtration and dryness on filter paper. Both types of samples were counted using a low background alpha/beta proportional counter with multiple detector type (Berthold LB770). The results showed that gross alpha activities in seawater and plankton sample are in the range of 0.0591 ± 0.0209–0.3914 ± 0.0606 Bq/l and 0.0029 ± 0.0020–0.0294 ± 0.0043 Bq/l, respectively and also showed the lowest and highest activity level in the same sampling time. The activities of gross beta in seawater and plankton sample are in the range of 0.2803 ± 0.0177–1.3064 ± 0.0319 Bq/l and 0.0208 ± 0.0123–0.9151 ± 0.0262 Bq/l, respectively. Minimum detectable activity (MDA) had been observed in the measurements. The MDA of seawater sample were estimated to be 0.0832 Bq/l for alpha and 0.0577 Bq/l for beta at counting time of 100 and 200 min, respectively. In plankton samples, the MDA were estimated to be 0.0053 Bq/l for alpha and 0.0409 Bq/l for beta at the same counting time of 250 min.