Having discovered what I think is ample evidence of thallium contaminating both food and water I am sometimes asked if the spectroscope is somehow contaminated, thus producing tainted results? To adequately answer this deserving question I start by saying:
1... Because I have the dubious honor of being one of the world's foremost experts at making errors I constantly strive to self-examine not only myself, but the
results in order to not fool myself.
2... The primary location where contamination is most likely to occur is at the carbon electrodes, which are not 100% pure. To minimize this potential contamination
risk I always check them by striking an electric arc, which instantly allows me to see what contaminates are present within the visible spectrum. Likewise this
is also true for previously used electrodes. Nevertheless to avoid additional unintentional possible inaccurate results I pre-clean each electrode and if a clean
visible spectrum is produced then contamination is nil.
3... In addition to having clean electrodes I also clean the area where the sample is burnt, then conduct a burn to check if any contamination is present. Fortunately,
unlike many instruments this Vreeland spectroscope instantly allows me to see in real-time what is generated by the electric arc. Therefore, any contamination
within the visible spectrum is instantly ascertained, thereby avoiding reporting inaccurate results.
4… After conducting a few thousand burns I can categorically state that thallium is not always found and when it is seen it is almost always of varying intensities
indicating different amounts.
I have conducted several random blind samples that I have prepared to check myself and I have always found the sought for or the lack of whatever elements
were or were not present, including thallium. I am not at all concerned that if someone prepared samples for me to burn that if there were a sufficient amount of
specific elements present I’d be able to see them and probably also be able to provide a semi-quant analysis.
5… My deceased mining claim partner (Jack Crandall) used to say – machines don’t lie, but you must watch the operator. All man made instruments have
limitations, including the Vreeland Spectroscope. An example of its limitation is: According to the manufacturer in order to see a spectrum line for thallium it
must be present in about this minimum quantity of .001% -.01% (1ppm = 0.0001% or 100ppm = 0.01%). Therefore, as far as I am concerned I am not likely to
see the green spectrum line for thallium if the quantity is less than 1ppm and certainly no where near the 2ppb that the EPA indicates is the maximum amount
of thallium in public drinking water.
Based upon my tests where I added a known amount of thallium to a thallium free clay matrix I cannot produce a visible thallium line with less than 1 to 2 ppm.
Also, in order to easily see the spectrum lines for the PGMs they should be present in the following abundances: Iridium = .1%, Osmium = .1, Platinum = .1%,
Palladium = .01 -.05%, Rhodium = .1%, Ruthenium = .1%,
The manufacturer’s disclaimer says: “These figures have to be used with some reservation due to the variability of matrix effects.”
All of us at one time or another get up on the wrong side of the bed to discover that nothing goes right all day long. Similarly we are affected by the pressures of living be they physical, mental or financial. Furthermore, most of us get sick but attempt to work anyway or are occasionally lazy and simply don’t feel doing anything. Likewise we all eventually make mistakes. In other words – no one is infallible. Therefore, when the testing of public drinking water or any analysis I ask – who’s checking the checker?
Years ago I read that if 10 identical samples were sent to 10 different labs there will be 10 different results.
According to what I read the only instrument the EPA recognizes for testing thallium in public drinking water is an extremely expensive and sophisticated Induction Coupled Plasma Spectrometer coupled to a Mass Spectrometer (ICP/MS).
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/ICP-MS
notice what is briefly stated about maintenance
http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/icpms/intro.html
notice the last sentence.
The questions that deserve being asked of a commercial laboratory are:
1) how qualified is the person conducting the tests,
2) how old are the instruments,
3) when were the instruments last calibrated,
4) when was all the tubing cleaned to avoid potential contamination
5) how does the instrument operator know that the water standard used to calibrate the instruments was/is pure or free of any detectable thallium?????
and last but not least
6) How does a private person drinking water know with certainty that it is clean and safe?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101115210944.htm