Re: Q:"decon" for radiocarbon dating?

[Wes Van Pelt <VanPeltW@idt.net>]

Melissa woo wrote:

> Does anyone have experience with "decon" (and I use the term very loosely
> in this case) to prepare for a researcher who wants to do radiocarbon
> dating in which excess *atoms* of C-14 could skew results badly?
> 
> The rooms in question had been radionuclide use rooms in the past (many,
> but C-14 was certainly among them).  The rooms check out as far as
> regulatory release limits go, but they aren't clean enough for this
> researcher.

Melissa,
1. You could wait 57,000 years. (10 half lives)
2. You could oxidize the lab and convert the available C to CO2 which
will then blow away.

Wes
-- 
Wesley R. Van Pelt, Ph.D., CIH, CHP                KF2LG
President, Van Pelt Associates, Inc.     
Consulting in radiological health and safety.
mailto:VanPeltW@IDT.net        
http://shell.idt.net/~vanpeltw/index.html
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