Residual radioactivity of treated green diamonds

Philippe Cassette (1) , Franck Notari , Marie-Christine Lépy (1) , Candice Caplan , Sylvie Pierre (1) , Thomas Hainschwang , Emmanuel Fritsch (2)

1 LNHB (CEA, LIST) - Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (CEA, LIST)
2 IMN - Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel

Treated green diamonds can show residual radioactivity, generally due to immersion in radium salts. We report various activity measurements on two radioactive diamonds. The activity was characterized by alpha and gamma ray spectrometry, and the radon emanation was measured by alpha counting of a frozen source. Even when no residual radium contamination can be identified, measurable alpha and high-energy beta emissions could be detected. The potential health impact of radioactive diamonds and their status with regard to the regulatory policy for radioactive products are discussed.

Mots clés: 210Po; 210Pb; 226Ra; Radioactive gemstones; Treated diamond; metrology; radioactivity; ionizing radiation; diamond; alpha-rays; alpha counting; Primary activity measurement; gamma-rays; spectrometry; gamma spectrometry

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]; Radiochimie

Philippe Cassette, Franck Notari, Marie-Christine Lépy, Candice Caplan, Sylvie Pierre, et al.. Residual radioactivity of treated green diamonds. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 2017, 126, pp.66 - 72. ⟨10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.01.026⟩. ⟨hal-01623125⟩