Discussion: Recovery from tracer contamination in AMS sample preparation

Abstract

Samples that contain high levels of tracer 14C are occasionally received at radiocarbon laboratories. Enriched samples of about  10 times modern can usually be handled without severe degradation of sample blanks, due to sample memory effects. It is not possible to identify such samples in advance, and one should be more wary of certain sources of 14C samples than others. We report here on a recent experience in our laboratory, similar to that reported by Vogel et al above.