A caveat on the use of 2-mercaptoethanol in plant technetium speciation procedures

2-mercaptoethanol, a reducing and chelating compound extensively used in plant technetium speciation procedures, is shown to react with the technetium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (Tc-DTPA) complex. The results of earlier plant technetium speciation studies should therefore be interpreted with caution, because of the possibility of reactions between labile plant technetium species and 2-mercaptoethanol.