Effect of Type of Acid and Time Between Acidification and Resin Contact on the Removal of Radiostrontium from Milk

Acetic, citric, hydrochloric, and phosphoric acids were used to lower the pH of milk (in vivo labeled with strontium 85) to 5.3. The milks were then passed through cation exchange columns and the per cent strontium removal determined. The use of citric acid effected 97.5% removal from 25 resin bed volumes of milk compared to 89.4, 88.4, and 83.1% for acetic, hydrochloric, and phosphoric acids, respectively. Results of studies carried out to determine the effect of time between acidification and resin contact on strontium removal, using citric acid for acidifying, showed that there was a small increase in the percentage removal with increasing holding time.