Automation of radiochemical analysis by applying flow techniques to environmental samples

We review the state of the art of flow analysis applied to the fully-automated and semi-automated determination of radioactive isotopes in environmental samples, including automatic procedures for separation and pre-concentration of radioisotopes. We discuss in detail advantages and drawbacks of automatic protocols exploiting various generations of flow techniques [e.g., flow-injection analysis (FIA), sequential-injection analysis (SIA), multi-syringe FIA (MSFIA), multi-pumping flow systems (MPFS) and lab-on-valve (LOV)] using a variety of detection systems, including scintillation counting, α-spectrometers, proportional counters, mass spectrometry and spectrophotometry.