Journal of environmental radioactivity最新文献

{"title":"Spatial distribution of radon in an experimental room","authors":"Raphael Grapentin,&nbsp;Antoine Geiser,&nbsp;Roger Blaser Zürcher","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107567","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107567","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The spatial distribution of radon and the relevance of the placement of radon detectors relative to the entry path of radon-containing air in an experimental room was investigated. A radon emanation source was used from which the air was transported with a constant air flow into the room. The radon contaminated air was released under a floor element used for electrical wiring which has multiple holes connecting to the inner volume of the room. At 36 equally spaced lattice points in the room the radon activity concentration was measured with two different solid-state nuclear track detectors of type Radonova Radtrak and Radonova Rapidos. The radon exposure on the detectors was accumulated over 72 days. Additionally, an electronic measurement device of type Saphymo AlphaGUARD was used as reference. It indicated a radon exposition of 475(1)<!--> <!-->kBq <!--> <!-->h/m³. The detectors of type Radtrak had a mean exposition of 564(36)<!--> <!-->kBq <!--> <!-->h/m³ and the ones of type Rapidos 496(15)<!--> <!-->kBq <!--> <!-->h/m³. Except for one outlier both types of detector showed a homogeneous distribution of radon in the room. Therefore, we have shown that under these experimental conditions the placement of the radon detector does not significantly influence the measurement result.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142643922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geological and geostatistical modeling of indoor radon concentration in buildings of İzmir Province (Western Turkey)","authors":"Mutlu Zeybek ,&nbsp;Türkan Alkan","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107571","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107571","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Radon is a carcinogenic gas that cannot be detected by the five senses and poses a significant health threat, particularly in the form of lung cancer, to individuals living in all enclosed buildings worldwide.</div><div>The aims of this study are to (1) measure Indoor Radon Concentrations (IRCs) in 117 buildings in İzmir, Turkey, (2) investigate and model the relationship between the IRCs and Geological Units (GUs) and Active Faults (AFs), and (3) compare the IRC values with the European Indoor Radon Reference Level (EIRRL) (200 Bq/m³) to identify areas that pose a potential health risk for lung cancer due to elevated Indoor Radon Levels (IRLs).</div><div>The IRCs were measured using Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors (SSNTDs) in 117 buildings. These measurements were conducted between February 2013 and March 2013. The IRCs were visualized on a map along with the GUs and AFs, and a geological cross-section was generated from the data represented on this map.</div><div>The IRCs in 117 buildings were geostatistically modeled in conjunction with AFs. Generally, the highest IRCs were found in locations proximal to AFs, with an increase in IRLs observed parallel to the AFs's directions. The highest IRC (487 Bq/m³) was recorded in a building located on alluvium derived primarily from volcanic rocks, whereas the lowest concentration (28 Bq/m³) was observed in a building situated on alluvium predominantly derived from sedimentary rocks. The statistical parameters (minimum: 28 Bq/m³, maximum: 487 Bq/m³, arithmetic mean: 210 Bq/m³) of the IRCs were established.</div><div>In İzmir, IRCs in 59 out of 117 buildings, representing approximately 50% of the sampled structures, were found to exceed the recommended EIRRL of 200 Bq/m³. It is imperative that IRCs in all enclosed buildings be regularly and periodically monitored by relevant authorities, and mitigation measures should be implemented in locations where IRLs exceed the threshold value of 200 Bq/m³.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142644007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil-to-plant transfer factors of uranium and thorium in mining and non-mining districts of Ghana","authors":"Edward Ankapong ,&nbsp;Opoku Gyamfi ,&nbsp;Victor Agyei ,&nbsp;Matt Dodd ,&nbsp;Osei Akoto ,&nbsp;Godfred Darko","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107566","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107566","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in water, soil, cassava, cocoyam and yam grown in two mining districts and a non-mining district in Ghana were determined using a high-resolution gamma spectroscopy system with high-purity germanium detector. The estimated absorbed dose for soil from Amansie, Konongo, and Mampong were 206 nGy/h, 224 nGy/h and 198 nGy/h, respectively, which were all above 60 nGy/h set by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. The soil-to-plant transfer factors (TF) for ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K ranged from 0.11 to 1.11, 0.03 to 2.39, and 0.03 to 22.07, respectively. The results showed that the highest TF for ²³⁸U and ²³²Th were 1.11 and 2.39, respectively in cassava. There was no significant variation in the TF of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th among the soils in the different communities. The estimated transfer factors for ²³⁸U and ²³²Th for cassava, cocoyam and yam were higher than that reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142639018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Indoor radon trends with building code change in two Canadian cities","authors":"Janet Gaskin ,&nbsp;Liang Grace Zhou ,&nbsp;Robert Stainforth ,&nbsp;Colin Gutcher ,&nbsp;Pawel Mekarski ,&nbsp;Roshini Kassie ,&nbsp;Karen Li ,&nbsp;Ngoc Vuong ,&nbsp;Jeff Whyte ,&nbsp;Michel Gauthier ,&nbsp;Debora Quayle","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107570","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107570","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Radon studies were conducted in two Canadian cities, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, to evaluate trends in indoor radon before and after the 2010 National Building Code of Canada was adopted into the legally binding provincial building codes in 2011. Participants were recruited in neighbourhoods characterized by newer housing developments. A postcard campaign in each city offered free radon testing to every house in the target areas, and free testing kits were mailed to study participants. Indoor radon measurements and house questionnaires were completed by 225 eligible participants in Halifax and 171 eligible participants in Winnipeg, using alpha-track radon detectors deployed for three months during the heating season in 2021–2022. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the association between indoor radon and the period of construction, the area in contact with the ground, the number of storeys, the type of heating system, the water source, and the type of ventilation. These analyses were focussed on the detached study houses because the majority of the participants lived in a detached house, and significant associations were identified for the period of construction and the floor where the radon detector was located. An odds ratio of 1.91 (1.04–3.50) for the detached Halifax study houses built after 2011 was associated with having a higher than geometric mean radon concentration (p = 0.033), nearly double the likelihood. There was no evidence of significant change in the indoor radon after 2011 in the detached Winnipeg study houses. A lower likelihood – almost half - for measurement conducted on a main/upper floor compared to in the basement was associated with a radon concentration above the respective geometric mean for each city: an odds ratio of 0.48 (0.27–0.86) for the detached Halifax study houses (p = 0.012), and of 0.45 (0.32–0.64) for the detached Winnipeg study houses (p = 0.022). Radon is the second most important cause of lung cancer, after smoking, and the results of this study support strengthening the radon preventive measures required in new low-rise housing to reduce the associated lung cancer burden in Canada.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142621836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Species-specific trends of plutonium, radiocesium, and potassium-40 levels in three fish species of the Yenisei river (Siberia, Russia)","authors":"Tatiana A. Zotina ,&nbsp;Michail S. Melgunov ,&nbsp;Dmitry V. Dementyev ,&nbsp;Yuliyana V. Alexandrova ,&nbsp;Anton D. Karpov","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Yenisei is the largest river in the Northern Hemisphere receiving controlled radioactive discharges from nuclear facilities. The paper presents a comparative study of temporal trends of artificial radionuclides plutonium (^239,240Pu) and radiocesium (¹³⁷Cs), and a natural isotope of the essential macronutrient potassium (⁴⁰K) in samples of three commercial fish species (Northern pike, Baikal grayling, and Siberian dace) occupying different positions in a trophic network in the Yenisei River (Siberia, Russia). Samples of fish were caught in the Yenisei in 2011–2020 during a period of significant changes in controlled radioactive releases into the river. The study has shown no increase in plutonium concentration in fish samples within two years after the upsurge in controlled Pu discharge into the river (2018–2020). Average activity concentration of ^239,240Pu (mBq∙kg⁻¹ d.w., range, mean ± sd) in muscle of grayling (0.6–31.8, 10.9 ± 8.6) was higher (p &lt; 0.01) than in muscle of dace (1.0–4.4, 2.4 ± 1.2) and pike (1.1–11, 3.8 ± 2.9). This can be attributed to the feeding of grayling on benthic invertebrates rich in Pu. The concentration of Pu tended to increase in muscle of pike with the increasing size of the fish. Average activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs (Bq∙kg⁻¹ d.w., range, mean ± sd) in muscle of pike, a piscivorous fish (1.8–23.4, 7.7 ± 5.1), was significantly higher (p &lt; 0.001) than the average activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs in muscle of dace (0.7–5.7, 2.7 ± 1.6) and grayling (1.3–7.2, 2.5 ± 1.7). A similar effect was revealed for ⁴⁰K. This can be attributed to biomagnification of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K in food chains. The results will draw a baseline for assessment of dose-dependent ecological risks for wild fish itself and fish consumers, add field-based facts to the fundamental knowledge of behavior of artificial radionuclides in freshwater food chains, and suggests a hypothesis for consequent experimental studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142621838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical modelling for the distribution of 137Cs and 131I in the scheldt basin after a potential nuclear accident","authors":"Amit Ravindra Patil ,&nbsp;Fabricio Fiengo Perez ,&nbsp;Jonathan Lambrechts ,&nbsp;Insaf Draoui ,&nbsp;Eric Deleersnijder","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107568","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107568","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using the discontinuous Galerkin method in the SLIM modelling framework, we study the transport in the Scheldt basin and adjacent coastal area of radionuclides possibly emitted by Doel nuclear power plant in the aftermath of an accident. The contamination pathways taken into consideration are direct liquid releases into the water and deposition via the atmosphere. In past nuclear accidents, several radionuclides were released, among which, ¹³¹I and ¹³⁷Cs were considered herein. The hydrodynamics and atmospheric conditions are selected to simulate the worst-case scenario in the domain of interest. The radionuclide deposition towards the North Sea results in ¹³¹I and ¹³⁷Cs being transported to the Belgian coastal region. In case of deposition towards the river, radioactivity from upstream tributaries can reach the estuary within days. Direct liquid releases spread downstream until the mouth of the estuary after about few weeks and extend upstream into the Scheldt River. In all cases, due to tidal influence, the estuary becomes most vulnerable, with radioactivity potentially circulating for over a month. Additionally, higher river discharge resulted in decreased radioactivity levels in the estuary.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142621837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of a methodology for dose assessment and estimate of amount of NORM residues disposable in a conventional landfill","authors":"G. Venoso ,&nbsp;C. Nuccetelli ,&nbsp;F. Leonardi ,&nbsp;C. Di Carlo ,&nbsp;F. Trotti ,&nbsp;R. Ugolini ,&nbsp;J. Mrdakovic Popic ,&nbsp;R. Trevisi ,&nbsp;H. Caplin ,&nbsp;D. Pérez-Sánchez ,&nbsp;L. Février ,&nbsp;L. Urso","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107564","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107564","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The final disposal of NORM wastes in conventional landfill generally determines problems of acceptance by the landfill operators, since their willingness to accept Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) is often limited due to their concern about the radiological risks and reluctance of the local community to have at local landfills material that despite being cleared is still perceived as ‘radioactive’. In order to raise awareness among landfill operators, and also among other stakeholders on the actual radiological risk of exempted or cleared NORM wastes, it is of interest to estimate the mass of annual wastes containing NORM that can be disposed of in a landfill for conventional waste complying with the annual dose criterion of 1 mSv.</div><div>A methodology was developed considering a hypothetical homogeneous large landfill and assuming that NORM wastes are delivered with an initial activity concentration of 1 kBq kg⁻¹. The methodology uses exposure scenarios and assumptions from <em>Radiation Protection 122 Part 2</em>, the codes RESRAD-ONSITE and OFFSITE, and the most recent dose coefficients from ICRP. The exposure scenarios considered are the “worker handling NORM at an active landfill” and “members of the public living near an active landfill”, For these scenarios, screening levels (called <em>Operational Levels</em> in this work) in terms of activity concentration fulfilling the annual dose criterion of 1 mSv, for members of the public (including all ICRP age groups) and workers at a landfill, have been calculated for each decay chain segments using a generic and conservative approach. The <em>Operational Levels</em> evaluated in this work are almost independent from the landfill size and are relevant to the landfills complying the EU directive 1999/31 requirements.</div><div>The obtained Operational Levels (OL) are all higher than 1 kBq kg⁻¹, for U-238 and Th-232 series radionuclides and 10 Bq g⁻¹ for K-40, which are the general clearance levels adopted in the European Union. The estimated OLs range between 2 kBq kg⁻¹ (for Th-232sec) and about 150 kBq kg⁻¹ (for Po-210). For the U-238 decay chain, the segments with the smallest OLs values are U-238sec (OL = 2.5 kBq kg⁻¹) and Ra-226+ (OL = 3.7 kBq kg⁻¹). For Th-232 chain, the most critical segments are Th-232sec and Th-228+ (OL = 3.8 kBq kg⁻¹). As regards the mass of annual NORM wastes that can be disposed of in a conventional landfill, the levels obtained for Po-210, Pb-210+ and K-40 indicate that from the radiological point of view limitations to the annual admissible mass may occur only for large activity concentrations (i.e. 40 kBq kg⁻¹ and above). For the other segments, instead, limitations can occur for activity concentration levels in residues above 2 kBq kg⁻¹.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142621835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation of dense plumes in porous media using CsNO3 solute and phenolphthalein tracer","authors":"Amita Singh,&nbsp;Chunendra K. Sahu","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107558","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107558","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present results from the laboratory experiments performed to study the behaviour of dense plumes in porous media using Caesium Nitrate (CsNO₃) as the solute. Specifically, we consider the case of fixed volume release of a dense fluid into a saturated porous medium of lighter density. Our experiments consider the injection volume and concentration of CsNO₃ and the porous medium permeability as experimental variables. Our measurements show that the plume length and volume increase with time approximately as <span><math><msup><mrow><mi>t</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>0</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>5</mn></mrow></msup></math></span>. The mean concentration of the plume decreases with time as plume monotonically dilutes due to continuous mixing with the surrounding. From our measurements and with the help of dimensionless scaling, we present empirical models for the length, volume and mean concentration of the plume. Our results may be used to gain preliminary insights into the spatio-temporal evolution of plumes formed in the subsurface environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142603669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to \"Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation of human exposure to indoor 222Rn from building materials\" [J. Environ. Radioact. 280 (2024) 107562].","authors":"Felix Haman, Cebastien Joel Guembou Shouop, Dorine Flore Tiomene, Daniel Bongue, Patricia-Laurelle Degbe, Eric Jilbert Nguelem Mekongtso, Maurice Ndontchueng Moyo, Moïse Godfroy Kwato Njock","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107569","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2024.107569","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142621834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}