Dear all,
In an table showing element contents of marine zooplankton published in 1985, I encountered two units: ug per gram dry weight (used for Fe, Cu, etc.) and dpm per gram dry weight (used for Pb). According to my literature search, values are in the same order of magnitude and should be comparable, but why would someone use then different units to express the same? Can I convert dpm into ug per gram dry weight? Can someone explain that to me?
Your assistance is much appreciated.
Cheers
Excuse my naive reply, but this qualifies for using a different unit for Pb expressing the same as ug per gram dry weight?
Hi Florian,
DPM is an odd unit to report Pb in and is most likely due to how they measured it. Without knowing the details, it could be that the authors measured the radioactivity and assumed that it is was entirely attributable to lead. However, other radioactive isotopes could also emit radiation and so the authors might have left it is DPM for people to interpret the result themselves.