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The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a new Standard Reference Material 1941, “Organics in Marine Sediment.” In addition to the organic constituents, over 30 elements have been determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis and prompt-gamma activation analysis. The homogeneity of the material was investigated and relative standard deviations of single- element concentrations in 250-mg samples were found to be 1% or less with regard to major inorganic constituents and rare earth elements. A slightly higher relative SD was found for elements that may stem from biological or anthropogenic input. The element concentrations determined in this work are discussed in comparison to concentrations in other similar reference materials. Concentrations for 31 elements will be included for information on the certificate.

A straightforward method for demonstrating the powerful background reduction of Compton suppression spectrometers for neutron activation purposes is presented. The shorter acquisition time needed in Anti-Compton mode (A/C on) for peaks of appropriate counting statistics, compared to normal gamma counting (A/C off), allows a much higher sample throughput, thus compensating for the higher cost of the instrument. Two examples of artificial mixtures of radio- nuclides demonstrate the drastic time saving for measurement of monoenergetic decaying isotopes. The comparison of results from three different instruments proves the general usefulness of Compton suppression spectrometers for Neutron Activation Analysis of biological samples.