Abstract

This article presents the results of study about distribution, inflow and accumulation of polonium, uranium and plutonium in aquatic and land environment of Poland and the southern Baltic Sea. Radionuclides of (210)Po, (234)U and (238)U as well as (239+240)Pu and (241)Pu are strongly accumulated in Baltic organisms and plants and transferred through the trophic chain. The values of bioconcentration factor (BCF) in Baltic plants and animals are higher for polonium and plutonium in comparison with uranium. The principal source of radionuclides in the southern Baltic Sea is their inflow with rivers. Total annual runoff of polonium, uranium and plutonium from the Vistula and the Odra as well as the Pomeranian rivers were calculated at 95 GBq of (210)Po, 750 GBq of (234+238)U and 160 MBq of (238+239+240)Pu. Seasonal and spatial variability of (210)Po, (238)U and (239+240)Pu levels in the Vistula and the Odra drainage basins were assessed by application of neural-network based classification, especially cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA) and self-organizing maps (SOM). The result for the Vistula river indicated correlation between polonium and plutonium as well as polonium and uranium. In the Odra drainage basin, the biggest differences were observed in the case of (238)U. To assess if there are statistically significant differences in mean concentration values of (210)Po, (238)U and (239+240)Pu for the Vistula and the Odra rivers drainage basins were obtained by used of the non-parametric tests. Comparing to the Vistula catchment area, statistically differences concentration of (210)Po and (239+240)Pu in all year was observed for river samples collected on the Odra drainage basin.

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Publisher Full Text

Authors

Skwarzec B, Strumińska-Parulska DI, Boryło A, Kabat K

Institution

University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Chemistry, Chair of Analytics and Environmental Radiochemistry, Gdańsk, Poland. bosk@chem.univ.gda.pl

Source

Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering 47:3 2012 pg 479-96

MeSH

Animals
Bivalvia
Crustacea
Ecosystem
Fishes
Fresh Water
Geologic Sediments
Oceans and Seas
Phytoplankton
Plutonium
Poland
Polonium
Polychaeta
Radiation Monitoring
Rivers
Seawater
Uranium
Water Pollutants, Radioactive
Zooplankton

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22320701