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Oloś G, Dołhańczuk-Śródka A. Effective and environmental half-lives of radiocesium in game from Poland. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2022; 248:106870. [PMID: 35358916 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2022.106870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
For the first time changes in the 137Cs activity in game throughout Poland, including its most contaminated part known as the Opole Anomaly, were analyzed. Due to its long physical half-life, 137Cs continuously demonstrates high activity both in soil and biota. The species of game mammals, along with forest fruit and mushrooms, tend to accumulate this radionuclide, becoming one of the main sources of secondary contamination in people. In this study the 137Cs activity in roe deer, wild boar and red deer muscle tissue samples, within the years of 1986-2019, were studied. The effective and environmental half-lives were determined for each of the mentioned species for four regions including NE Poland and the Opole Anomaly placed in SW Poland. In all examined species at least two different phases of changes in the 137Cs activity were distinguished, therefore the values of effective half-lives for the researched period since the Chernobyl accident do not correspond with the values from within last ten years. It was proven for the first time that within the anomalous area, featuring the highest values of gamma surface activity in Poland, the 137Cs activity increases with time in the muscle tissues of all three species. No intraspecies, nor interspecies differences of 137Cs activity among the studied species were found. In the light of the collected data, monitoring game considering the 137Cs activity appears to be valid, as, due to not completely clear trophic dependencies, this radionuclide currently increased its migration to the game species despite passing its physical half-life period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grzegorz Oloś
- Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, Opole University, Kominka Street 6, 45-032, Opole, Poland.
| | - Agnieszka Dołhańczuk-Śródka
- Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, Opole University, Kominka Street 6, 45-032, Opole, Poland
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Kocadag M, Exler V, Christopher BS, Baumgartner A, Stietka M, Landstetter C, Korner M, Maringer FJ. Environmental radioactivity study of Austrian and Bavarian forest ecosystems: Long-term behaviour of contamination of soil, vegetation and wild boar and its radioecological coherences. Appl Radiat Isot 2017; 126:106-111. [PMID: 28336263 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2016] [Revised: 03/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
137Cs and 40K in soil, vegetation and flesh of wild boar samples from Austrian and Bavarian regions were investigated by gamma-ray spectrometry and 90Sr in bones of wild boar with Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) after radiochemical separation. The soil core profiles revealed that 70-97% of the soil caesium content is still accumulated in the 0-10cm soil depth. From all vegetation samples the mushrooms, particularly the bay boletus showed the highest 137Cs contamination. The activity concentration of 137Cs in muscle tissue of boar ranged from 14.9±1.5Bq/kg (Bavaria) to 4711±377Bq/kg (Lower Austria). In the bones of wild boars, 90Sr activity concentration ranged from 1.4±0.2Bq/kg (Bavaria) to 70.3±10.5Bq/kg (Upper Austria).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Michael Stietka
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Martin Korner
- Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Austria
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3
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Yin C, Ji H. A (137)Cs erosion model with moving boundary. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2015; 150:152-158. [PMID: 26327366 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2015.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2015] [Revised: 07/16/2015] [Accepted: 08/17/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
A novel quantitative model of the relationship between diffused concentration changes and erosion rates using assessment of soil losses was developed. It derived from the analysis of surface soil (137)Cs flux variation under persistent erosion effect and based on the principle of geochemistry kinetics moving boundary. The new moving boundary model improves the basic simplified transport model (Zhang et al., 2008), and mainly applies to uniform rainfall areas which show a long-time soil erosion. The simulation results for this kind of erosion show under a long-time soil erosion, the influence of (137)Cs concentration will decrease exponentially with increasing depth. Using the new model fit to the measured (137)Cs depth distribution data in Zunyi site, Guizhou Province, China which has typical uniform rainfall provided a good fit with R(2) = 0.92. To compare the soil erosion rates calculated by the simple transport model and the new model, we take the Kaixian reference profile as example. The soil losses estimated by the previous simplified transport model are greater than those estimated by the new moving boundary model, which is consistent with our expectations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuan Yin
- Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and GIS, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
| | - Hongbing Ji
- Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and GIS, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, China.
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Kapała J, Mnich K, Mnich S, Karpińska M, Bielawska A. Time-dependence of ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration in wild game meat in Knyszyn Primeval Forest (Poland). JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2015; 141:76-81. [PMID: 25559242 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2013] [Revised: 10/28/2014] [Accepted: 11/17/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Wild game meat samples were analysed from the region of the Podlasie province (Knyszyn Primeval Forest). (137)Cs content in meat was determined by gamma spectrometry in 2003 (33 samples), 2009 (22 samples) and 2012 (26 samples). The samples were collected in the autumn of 2003, 2009 and 2012 and were compared with data from 1996. Mean concentrations of (137)Cs in the respective years were as follow: 42.2 Bq kg(-1), 33.7 Bq kg(-1) and 30.5 Bq kg(-1), respectively. On the basis of mean values of (137)Cs in the meat samples of red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and wild boars (Sus scrofa) between 1996/2012, the effective half-life of (137)Cs was determined for specific species. For red deer equaled 8.9 years, for roe deer 11.6 years while for wild boar it exceeded the physical half-life and equaled 38.5 years. Mean value CR obtained for all three species equaled 1.7 ± 1.5 out of 102 measurements in animals muscles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacek Kapała
- Medical University of Białystok, Department of Biophysics, 2A Mickiewicza Str., 15-222 Białystok, Poland.
| | - Krystian Mnich
- The Stanislaw Deresz Independent Psychiatric Healthcare Facility in Choroszcz, The Department of Neurology, The Physiotherapy and Remedial Improvement Unit, Poland
| | - Stanisław Mnich
- The State College of Computer Science and Business Administration in Lomza, Poland
| | - Maria Karpińska
- Medical University of Białystok, Department of Biophysics, 2A Mickiewicza Str., 15-222 Białystok, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Bielawska
- Medical University of Białystok, Department of Biophysics, 2A Mickiewicza Str., 15-222 Białystok, Poland
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Teramage MT, Onda Y, Patin J, Kato H, Gomi T, Nam S. Vertical distribution of radiocesium in coniferous forest soil after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2014; 137:37-45. [PMID: 24998747 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2014] [Revised: 06/06/2014] [Accepted: 06/17/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
This study deals with the description of the vertical distribution of radiocaesium ((137)Cs and (134)Cs) in a representative coniferous forest soil, investigated 10 months after the Fukushima radioactive fallout. During soil sampling, the forest floor components (understory plants, litter (Ol-) and fermented layers (Of)) were collected and treated separately. The results indicate that radiocesium is concentrated in the forest floor, and high radiocesium transfer factor observed in the undergrowth plants (3.3). This made the forest floor an active exchanging interphase for radiocesium. The raw organic layer (Ol + Of) holds 52% (5.3 kBq m(-2)) of the Fukushima-derived and 25% (0.7 kBq m(-2)) of the pre-Fukushima (137)Cs at the time of the soil sampling. Including the pre-Fukushima (137)Cs, 99% of the total soil inventory was in the upper 10 cm, in which the organic matter (OM) content was greater than 10%, suggesting the subsequent distribution most likely depends on the OM turnover. However, the small fraction of the Fukushima-derived (137)Cs at a depth of 16 cm is most likely due to the infiltration of radiocesium-circumscribed rainwater during the fallout before that selective adsorption prevails and reduces the migration of soluble (137)Cs. The values of the depth distribution parameters revealed that the distribution of the Fukushima-derived (137)Cs was somewhat rapid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengistu T Teramage
- Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamic, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba shi, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
| | - Yuichi Onda
- Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamic, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba shi, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Jeremy Patin
- Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamic, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba shi, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Kato
- Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamic, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba shi, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Takashi Gomi
- Department of International Environmental and Agriculture Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchuu, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
| | - Sooyoun Nam
- Department of International Environmental and Agriculture Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchuu, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
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Kumar A, Rout S, Chopra MK, Mishra DG, Singhal RK, Ravi PM, Tripathi RM. Modeling of 137Cs migration in cores of marine sediments of Mumbai Harbor Bay. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s10967-014-3116-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Meli MA, Cantaluppi C, Desideri D, Benedetti C, Feduzi L, Ceccotto F, Fasson A. Radioactivity measurements and dosimetric evaluation in meat of wild and bred animals in central Italy. Food Control 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.07.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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Vaaramaa K, Solatie D, Aro L. Distribution of 210Pb and 210Po concentrations in wild berries and mushrooms in boreal forest ecosystems. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2009; 408:84-91. [PMID: 19800659 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2009] [Revised: 08/31/2009] [Accepted: 09/08/2009] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The activity concentrations and distribution of 210Pb and 210Po in wild berries and edible mushrooms were investigated in Finnish forests. The main study areas were located in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests in southern and northern Finland. The activity concentrations of 210Pb and 210Po in blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) samples decreased in the order: stems>leaves>berries (i.e. fruits). The activity ratios of 210Po/210Pb in the wild berry samples were mainly higher than one, indicating elevated activity concentrations of polonium in the samples. In mushrooms the activity concentrations of 210Pb and especially 210Po were higher than in fruits of the wild berries. The highest activity concentration of 210Pb was detected in Cortinarius armillatus L. (16.2 Bq kg(-1) d.w.) and the lowest in Leccinum vulpinum L. (1.38 Bq kg(-1) d.w.). The 210Po activity concentrations of the whole fruiting bodies ranged from 7.14 Bq kg(-1) d.w. (Russula paludosa L.) to 1174 Bq kg(-1) d.w. (L. vulpinum L.). In general, the highest activity concentrations of 210Po were recorded in boletes. The caps of mushrooms of the Boletaceae family showed higher activity concentrations of 210Po compared to the stipes. In most of the mushrooms analyzed, the activity concentrations of 210Po were higher than those of 210Pb. 210Po and 210Pb dominate the radiation doses received via ingestion of wild berries and mushrooms in northern Finland, while in southern Finland the ingested dose is dominated by 137Cs from the Chernobyl fallout.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaisa Vaaramaa
- Laboratory of Radiochemistry, Department of Chemistry, P.O. Box 55, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
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Yablokov AV, Nesterenko VB, Nesterenko AV. Chapter III. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for the Environment. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2009; 1181:221-2. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04830.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Zhang X, Long Y, He X, Fu J, Zhang Y. A simplified 137Cs transport model for estimating erosion rates in undisturbed soil. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2008; 99:1242-1246. [PMID: 18433951 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2008.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2006] [Revised: 03/02/2008] [Accepted: 03/03/2008] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
(137)Cs is an artificial radionuclide with a half-life of 30.12 years which released into the environment as a result of atmospheric testing of thermo-nuclear weapons primarily during the period of 1950s-1970s with the maximum rate of (137)Cs fallout from atmosphere in 1963. (137)Cs fallout is strongly and rapidly adsorbed by fine particles in the surface horizons of the soil, when it falls down on the ground mostly with precipitation. Its subsequent redistribution is associated with movements of the soil or sediment particles. The (137)Cs nuclide tracing technique has been used for assessment of soil losses for both undisturbed and cultivated soils. For undisturbed soils, a simple profile-shape model was developed in 1990 to describe the (137)Cs depth distribution in profile, where the maximum (137)Cs occurs in the surface horizon and it exponentially decreases with depth. The model implied that the total (137)Cs fallout amount deposited on the earth surface in 1963 and the (137)Cs profile shape has not changed with time. The model has been widely used for assessment of soil losses on undisturbed land. However, temporal variations of (137)Cs depth distribution in undisturbed soils after its deposition on the ground due to downward transport processes are not considered in the previous simple profile-shape model. Thus, the soil losses are overestimated by the model. On the base of the erosion assessment model developed by Walling, D.E., He, Q. [1999. Improved models for estimating soil erosion rates from cesium-137 measurements. Journal of Environmental Quality 28, 611-622], we discuss the (137)Cs transport process in the eroded soil profile and make some simplification to the model, develop a method to estimate the soil erosion rate more expediently. To compare the soil erosion rates calculated by the simple profile-shape model and the simple transport model, the soil losses related to different (137)Cs loss proportions of the reference inventory at the Kaixian site of the Three Gorge Region, China are estimated by the two models. The over-estimation of the soil loss by using the previous simple profile-shape model obviously increases with the time period from the sampling year to the year of 1963 and (137)Cs loss proportion of the reference inventory. As to 20-80% of (137)Cs loss proportions of the reference inventory at the Kaixian site in 2004, the annual soil loss depths estimated by the new simplified transport process model are only 57.90-56.24% of the values estimated by the previous model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinbao Zhang
- Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS, No. 9 Block 4 South Renmin Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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Skwarzec B, Prucnal M. Accumulation of polonium 210Po in tissues and organs of deer carvidae from Northern Poland. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND HEALTH. PART. B, PESTICIDES, FOOD CONTAMINANTS, AND AGRICULTURAL WASTES 2007; 42:335-41. [PMID: 17454388 DOI: 10.1080/03601230701229346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
This study was undertaken to provide information on accumulation of polonium in tissues and organs of deer carvidae in order to assess the potential transport of this element via food-chain to game meat consumers. Livers, kidneys and muscles of large herbivorous animals belonging to three species: roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama), collected in Northern Poland, were the subject of the present investigation. Activities of (210)Po were determined by means of alpha spectrometry along with relevant radiochemical procedures. The concentration of (210)Po in analyzed animals decreased in the order kidney > liver > muscle tissue. The average activity concentrations of (210)Po ranged between 0.02 +/- 0.01 Bq. kg(- 1) w.w. in muscles and 7.15 +/- 0.12 Bq. kg(- 1) w.w. in kidneys. Levels of polonium were not influenced by sampling location, sex, age and species of animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bogdan Skwarzec
- Chemistry Department, University of Gdansk, Sobieskiego, Poland.
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Hrachowitz M, Maringer FJ, Steineder C, Gerzabek MH. Soil redistribution model for undisturbed and cultivated sites based on Chernobyl-derived cesium-137 fallout. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2005; 34:1302-10. [PMID: 15998852 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2004.0442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Measurements of 137Cs fallout have been used in combination with a range of conversion models for the investigation of soil relocation mechanisms and sediment budgets in many countries for more than 20 yr. The objective of this paper is to develop a conversion model for quantifying soil redistribution, based on Chernobyl-derived 137Cs. The model is applicable on uncultivated as well as on cultivated sites, taking into account temporal changes in the 137Cs depth distribution pattern as well as tillage-induced 137Cs dilution effects. The main idea of the new model is the combination of a modified exponential model describing uncultivated soil with a Chapman distribution based model describing cultivated soil. The compound model subsequently allows a dynamic description of the Chernobyl derived 137Cs situation in the soil and its change, specifically migration and soil transport processes over the course of time. Using the suggested model at the sampling site in Pettenbach, in the Austrian province of Oberösterreich 137Cs depth distributions were simulated with a correlation coefficient of 0.97 compared with the measured 137Cs depth profile. The simulated rates of soil distribution at different positions at the sampling site were found to be between 27 and 60 Mg ha(-1) yr(-1). It was shown that the model can be used to describe the temporal changes of 137Cs depth distributions in cultivated as well as uncultivated soils. Additionally, the model allows to quantify soil redistribution in good correspondence with already existing models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Hrachowitz
- Univ. of Natural Resources and Applied Life Science (BOKU), Dep. für Wald- und Bodenwissenschaften, Institut für Bodenforschung, Peter Jordanstrasse 92, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
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Shinonaga T, Schimmack W, Gerzabek MH. Vertical migration of 60Co, 137Cs and 226Ra in agricultural soils as observed in lysimeters under crop rotation. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2005; 79:93-106. [PMID: 15603900 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2003] [Revised: 05/18/2004] [Accepted: 05/26/2004] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
In most studies quantifying the migration parameters - apparent migration velocity and apparent dispersion coefficient - of radionuclides in the soil by model calculations, these parameters are determined for undisturbed soils. For soils disturbed by ploughing, however, no such data are available in the literature. Therefore, in the present study, the migration parameters of (137)Cs, (60)Co and (226)Ra were estimated for ploughed soils by means of a convection-dispersion model. The depth distributions of the radionuclides were determined in four lysimeters (area: 1m(2), depth of soil monolith: 0.75m) filled with artificially contaminated soils of different types in July 1990. The lysimeters were cropped with agricultural plants. The soil in each lysimeter was ploughed manually once a year until 1996 (plough depth 20cm). In July 1999, soil samples were collected from three pits in each lysimeter. The depth distributions of all radionuclides proved to be very similar in each soil pit. The spatial variability of the depth distributions of a given radionuclide within the lysimeters was about the same as their variability between the four lysimeters. Evaluation of the migration parameters revealed that the convective transport of the radionuclides was always rather small or even zero, while the dispersive transport caused a "melting" process of the initially sharp activity edge at the lower border of the Ap horizon. These results are explained by the high evapotranspiration (80-90% of the total precipitation plus irrigation) and the small amounts of seepage water during the observation period of 9 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Shinonaga
- Division of Environmental and Life Science, ARC Seibersdorf Research, A-2444 Seibersdorf, Austria
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Robison WL, Conrado CL, Bogen KT, Stoker AC. The effective and environmental half-life of 137Cs at Coral Islands at the former US nuclear test site. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2003; 69:207-223. [PMID: 12832159 DOI: 10.1016/s0265-931x(03)00080-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The United States (US) conducted nuclear weapons testing from 1946 to 1958 at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the northern Marshall Islands. Based on previous detailed dose assessments for Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik Atolls over a period of 28 years, cesium-137 (137Cs) at Bikini Atoll contributes about 85-89% of the total estimated dose through the terrestrial food chain as a result of uptake of 137Cs by food crops. The estimated integral 30, 50, and 70-year doses were based on the radiological decay of 137Cs (30-year half-life) and other radionuclides. However, there is a continuing inventory of 137Cs and 90Sr in the fresh water portion of the groundwater at all contaminated atolls even though the turnover rate of the fresh groundwater is about 5 years. This is evidence that a portion of the soluble fraction of 137Cs and 90Sr inventory in the soil is lost by transport to groundwater when rainfall is heavy enough to cause recharge of the lens, resulting in loss of 137Cs from the soil column and root zone of the plants. This loss is in addition to that caused by radioactive decay. The effective rate of loss was determined by two methods: (1) indirectly, from time-dependent studies of the 137Cs concentration in leaves of Pisonia grandis, Guettarda specosia, Tournefortia argentea (also called Messerschmidia), Scaevola taccada, and fruit from Pandanus and coconut trees (Cocos nucifera L.), and (2) more directly, by evaluating the 137Cs/90Sr ratios at Bikini Atoll. The mean (and its lower and upper 95% confidence limits) for effective half-life and for environmental-loss half-life (ELH) based on all the trees studied on Rongelap, Bikini, and Enewetak Atolls are 8.5 years (8.0 years, 9.8 years), and 12 years (11 years, 15 years), respectively. The ELH based on the 137Cs/90Sr ratios in soil in 1987 relative to the 137Cs/90Sr ratios at the time of deposition in 1954 is less than 17 years. The magnitude of the decrease below 17 years depends on the ELH for 90Sr that is currently unknown, but some loss of 90Sr does occur along with 137Cs. If the 15-year upper 95% confidence limit on ELH (corresponding to an effective half-life of 9.8 years) is incorporated into dose calculations projected over periods of 30, 50, or 70 years, then corresponding integral doses are 58, 46 and 41%, respectively, of those previously calculated based solely on radiological decay of 137Cs.
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Affiliation(s)
- William L Robison
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, L-286, Livermore, CA 94550-9234, USA.
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Jen MH, Hwang JJ, Yang JY, Nabyvanets YB, Hsieh WA, Tsai MH, Guo SD, Chang WP. Micronuclei and nuclear anomalies in urinary exfoliated cells of subjects in radionuclide-contaminated regions. MUTATION RESEARCH-GENETIC TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MUTAGENESIS 2002; 520:39-46. [PMID: 12297142 DOI: 10.1016/s1383-5718(02)00177-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
(137)Cs contamination in living or agricultural environments may contribute to significant human internal exposure and cause adverse health effects. Contamination by (137)Cs and other radionuclides was detected in a river valley in northern Taiwan, in the 1990s. Given that the radioactivity appeared to be widely distributed in soil, rice and several other food plants in the areas surrounding several communities in the late 1990s [Y.B. Nabyvanents, T.F. Gesell, M.H. Jen, W.P. Chang, Distribution of (137)Cs in soil along Ta-han River Valley in Tau-Yuan County in Taiwan, J. Environ. Radioact. 54 (2001) 391], its possible impact on local occupants was further studied. Ten subjects in three families residing continuously in the highly contaminated valley and 10 non-exposed subjects matched for age, sex, and cigarette smoking habits from neighboring communities were evaluated for micronucleus frequencies and for degenerative nuclear changes in urinary exfoliated epithelial cells (EE cells). Micronucleus frequencies ( per thousand ) were significantly higher in the exposed subjects (4.79+/-1.21 per thousand ) than in the reference subjects (2.73+/-0.59 per thousand; Wilcoxon 2-sample test, P value 0.0004). There were also higher frequencies of EE cells with karyolysis and condensed chromatin in the exposed subjects than in reference subjects. These results indicate that genotoxic and/or mutagenic effects on urinary epithelial cells occur in human subjects who have resided for a long time in a radioactively contaminated environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Huan Jen
- Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Institute of Public Health, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming University, 155 Section 2, Linon St., Shihpai, -11200, Taipei, Taiwan
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Zibold G, Drissner J, Kaminski S, Klemt E, Miller R. Time-dependence of the radiocaesium contamination of roe deer: measurement and modelling. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2001; 55:5-27. [PMID: 11381553 DOI: 10.1016/s0265-931x(00)00184-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
In spruce forest and peat bog, the migration of 137Cs from soil to plants, fungi, roe deer and consumers has been surveyed. In spruce forest the 137Cs activity concentration in roe deer decreases slowly with time and has superimposed periodic maxima in autumn which are correlated with the mushroom season. The decrease with time can be described by an effective half-life of 3.5 yr caused by a fraction of the 137Cs in the soil becoming unavailable for green grazing plants with time. The additional transfer of 137Cs into roe deer meat during the mushroom season depends on precipitation in July, August and September which also determines the yield of fungi in autumn. Our model confirms the assumption that fungi also have access to a fraction of the 137Cs in the soil which is unavailable for green plants. On peat bog the 137Cs activity concentration in roe deer is higher than in spruce forest and its effective half-life is about 17 yr, due to reversible binding of 137Cs to organic matter in the peat bog.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Zibold
- Fachhochschule Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences, D-88241 Weingarten, Germany.
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Bossew P, Strebl F. Radioactive contamination of tropical rainforest soils in Southern Costa Rica. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2001; 53:199-213. [PMID: 11378940 DOI: 10.1016/s0265-931x(00)00126-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Radionuclide content in soils from four locations in a tropical rainforest near Golfito in Southern Costa Rica was investigated. For comparison, two nearby locations in open grassland were also studied. From each site 5 soil cores down to a depth of 15 cm were taken. The median contamination with 137Cs was 584 Bq m-2 (reference date 1 January 1996) and the coefficient of variation (CV) was 50%. This contamination can be attributed to global fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapon tests between 1945 and 1980. The mean contamination is slightly lower than the value expected for the latitude (8 degrees 42': 700 Bq m-2), which may be explained by migration of radiocaesium to subsoil below 15 cm or by uptake into the living biomass. Out of the total variability of 50%, around 20% can be attributed to the sampling and measuring process uncertainties, thus leaving a 45% contribution of spatial variability. A significant difference between forest and meadow sites could be detected: the meadow sites showed lower radiocaesium soil inventories (median: 291 Bq m-2) than the forest sites (643 Bq m-2). This may be explained by the agricultural activities carried out on meadow sites which lead to an increased redistribution of caesium in the soil profile and therefore a larger fraction of the total 137Cs lying below 15 cm. Another reason for higher contamination levels under forest can be attributed to the high interception potential of dense tree canopies for dry deposition. Extrapolating the 137Cs concentration below the sampling horizon, i.e. accounting for the cut-off of the profiles by the sampling technique, results in an estimated mean of 710 Bq m-2 for the forest sites, which is very close to the expected figure. The mainly mineral part of the forest soil profiles was analysed for the 137Cs transport parameters, apparent convection velocity (v = 0.14 +/- 0.09 cm a-1) and apparent diffusion constant (D = 0.79 +/- 0.49 cm2 a-1). The maximum concentration can be found at 5.3 +/- 2.9 cm depth, the half-value depth being 7.4 +/- 1.3 cm. The mean 40K activity concentration was 175 Bq kg-1 dry matter (CV = 69%) and 226Ra and 228Ra concentrations of 9.90 Bq kg-1 (CV = 23%) and 7.93 Bq kg-1 (CV = 20%) have been found, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Bossew
- Austrian Institute of Applied Ecology, Seidengasse 13, A-1070 Vienna, Austria
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Nabyvanets YB, Gesell TF, Jen MH, Chang WP. Distribution of 137Cs in soil along Ta-han River Valley in Tau-Yuan County in Taiwan. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2001; 54:391-400. [PMID: 11381945 DOI: 10.1016/s0265-931x(00)00161-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Environmental 137Cs contamination was suspected from accidents at spent fuel storage pits of a research reactor site in the Ta-han River valley in Taiwan. In order to further characterize this contamination, soil samples were collected and measured by a gamma-spectroscopy system in 1999. It was found that 137Cs contamination is distributed up to 4 km from the reactor in an area covered mostly by rice and plant fields. 137Cs concentration in the topsoil ranged up to about 1000 Bq kg-1, as compared with soil beyond the contaminated area, which does not exceed 15 Bq kg-1. Spatial distribution of 137Cs was characterized by strong non-uniformity, which complicated our understanding of the distribution pathway of the radionuclides. The highest concentrations of 137Cs, up to more than 1000 Bq kg-1, were found within a few rice fields. The relative location of these rice fields and the water supplies from local streams suggested that the 137Cs was distributed along water pathways in the valley.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y B Nabyvanets
- Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming University, 155 Li-non st, Section 2, Shih-Pai, Taipei 11200, Taiwan
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Strebl F, Gerzabek MH, Bossew P, Kienzl K. Distribution of radiocaesium in an Austrian forest stand. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 1999; 226:75-83. [PMID: 10077876 DOI: 10.1016/s0048-9697(98)90051-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Within an Austrian spruce stand, vertical distribution of radiocaesium in soil as well as 137Cs concentration in different forest ecosystem compartments including spruce and surface water were investigated 10 years after the Chernobyl accident. The total 137Cs inventory in the forest was estimated to be 46 kBq m-2 (ref. date: 86-05-01). From the collected data annual input rates via litterfall of 0.48% per year and output rates through waterflows of only 0.02% per year were derived. The results identify the high importance of forest soils as a sink for radiocaesium. The estimated ecological residence half-times turned out to be highest in the organic soil horizons (1-3 years per cm), whereas in mineral horizons the values decrease significantly. As a consequence, soil inventory represents more than 95% of the total, whereas only approximately 3.3% of the 137Cs inventory is stored in the living biomass of spruce trees and a further 0.5% in the phytomass of understorey vegetation.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Strebl
- Austrian Research Center Seibersdorf Ges.m.b.H., Department of Environmental Research, Seibersdorf, Austria.
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