Dagmara I. Strumińska-Parulska

The inflow of 238Pu and 239+240Pu from the Vistula River catchment area to the Baltic Sea

The aim of the work was to estimate plutonium inflow from the Vistula Rivers catchments area to the Baltic Sea. There were differences in plutonium activities depending on season and sampling site. The highest activities of (238)Pu and (239+240)Pu were transported from the Vistula River watershed to the Baltic Sea in spring and the lowest in summer. Annually, the southern Baltic Sea is enriched via the Vistula River with 10.3 MBq of (238)Pu and 89.0MBq of (239+240)Pu. The enhanced concentration of plutonium in water from the Vistula River is the result of its runoff from the Vistula drainage area, mostly from snowmelt, enhanced rainfalls and leached materials from river bed.

Determination of (210)Po and (210)Pb in red-capped scaber (Leccinum aurantiacum): bioconcentration and possible related dose assessment.

The paper presents the studies on 210Po and 210Pb activity determination in red-capped scaber (Leccinum aurantiacum (Bulliard) Gray) collected in northern Poland. The aims of the studies were to determine 210Po and 210Pb content in analyzed mushrooms, evaluate the bioconcentration levels, and estimate possible related annual effective radiation dose to mushrooms consumers. The activities of 210Po and 210Pb in red-capped scaber were un-uniform and depended on sampling sites. But 210Po and 210Pb activity concentrations did not reflect their concentrations in topsoil. The results showed that the consumption of analyzed mushrooms should not increase significantly the total effective radiation dose from 210Po and 210Pb decay.

Polonium, uranium and plutonium radionuclides in aquatic and land ecosystem of Poland

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 210Po, 234U and 238U as well as 239+240Pu and 241Pu 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 210Po, 750 GBq of 234+238U and 160 MBq of 238+239+240Pu. Seasonal and spatial variability of 210Po, 238U and 239+240Pu 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 238U. To assess if there are statistically significant differences in mean concentration values of 210Po, 238U and 239+240Pu 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 210Po and 239+240Pu in all year was observed for river samples collected on the Odra drainage basin.

Plutonium fractionation in southern Baltic Sea sediments

In this study, different chemical plutonium fractions (dissolved in water, connected to carbonates, connected to oxides, complexed with organic matter, mineral acids soluble and the rest) in sediments from the Vistula River estuary, the Gdańsk Basin and the Bornholm Deep were determined. The distribution of 239+240Pu in analysed sediments samples was not uniform but dependent on its chemical form, depth and the sediment geomorphology. The highest amount of plutonium exists in middle parts of sediments and comes from the global atmospheric fallout from nuclear tests in 1958–1961. According to all analysed fractions, the biggest amount of 239+240Pu was in the mobile form, connected to carbonate fractions from the Vistula River estuary, the Gulf of Gdańsk and the Bornholm Deep sediments.

Plutonium bioaccumulation in seabirds.

The aim of the paper was plutonium (²³⁸Pu and ²³⁹⁺²⁴⁰Pu) determination in seabirds, permanently or temporarily living in northern Poland at the Baltic Sea coast. Together 11 marine birds species were examined: 3 species permanently residing in the southern Baltic, 4 species of wintering birds and 3 species of migrating birds. The obtained results indicated plutonium is non-uniformly distributed in organs and tissues of analyzed seabirds. The highest plutonium content was found in the digestion organs and feathers, the smallest in skin and muscles. The plutonium concentration was lower in analyzed species which feed on fish and much higher in herbivorous species. The main source of plutonium in analyzed marine birds was global atmospheric fallout.

The inflow of 238Pu and 239+240Pu from the Odra and Pomeranian rivers catchments area to the Baltic Sea

The aim of the work was to estimate plutonium inflow from the Odra River catchments area to the Baltic Sea. The highest activities of (238)Pu and (239+240)Pu were observed in a winter and a spring season. The highest annual surface inflow of (239+240)Pu from the Odra River watershed was observed for a mountain tributary the Bóbr (1230 Bq km(-2) year(-1)). The annual inflow of (238)Pu and (239+240)Pu to the Baltic Sea was estimated at 9.51 MBq and 45.86 MBq respectively and the highest plutonium surface runoff was observed for the Bóbr drainage.

Is ecological food also radioecological? – 210Po and 210Pb studies

Presented are results of a study on accumulation of naturally occurring 210Po and 210Pb in ecological and conventional farming food products in Poland: fruits, vegetables and cereals. The main idea behind this research was to determine the activity concentrations of 210Po and 210Pb in ecological and commercial food as well as calculate and compare the effective dose (radiation) connected to different origin of analyzed food products consumption. The studies showed the majority of all compared food samples contained similar 210Po and 210Pb activities and statistically, the consumption of organic and commercial food would give similar annual effective dose.

Radioactive 210Po in magnesium supplements

Abstract The aim of this pioneer study was to determine polonium 210Po in the most popular magnesium supplements in Poland and estimate the possible related dose assessment to the consumers. The analyzed magnesium pharmaceutics contained organic or inorganic magnesium compounds; some from natural sources. The objectives of this research were to investigate the naturally occurring 210Po activity concentrations in magnesium supplements, find the correlations between 210Po concentration in medicament and magnesium chemical form, and calculate the effective radiation dose connected to analyzed magnesium supplement consumption. The highest 210Po activity concentrations were determined in mineral tablets made from sedimentary rocks, namely dolomite – 3.84 ± 0.15 mBq g–1 (sample Mg17). The highest annual radiation dose from 210Po taken with 1 tablet of magnesium supplement per day or with 400 mg of pure Mg daily would come from sample Mg17 (dolomite) – 1.35  ±  0.5 and 8.44 ± 0.33 μSv year–1 respectively.

Radiolead 210Pb and 210Po/210Pb activity ratios in dogs' hair

The aim of this study was to determine activity concentrations of radiolead 210Pb as well as 210Po/210Pb activity ratios in dog hair. The objectives of this research were also to investigate the utility of domestic animal hair as a noninvasive indicator of metal exposure for radiotoxic, naturally occurring 210Pb and find the correlations between 210Pb concentration in hair and age, gender, hair type or diet of analyzed animals. The highest 210Pb concentrations were measured in a 2-year-old Shih Tzus (9.82 ± 0.53 Bq kg−1 dw−1) and a 2-year-old Bichon Maltese (8.09 ± 0.42 Bq kg−1 dw−1), both longhair males, while the lowest was found in a 15-year-old Yorkshire Terrier (0.44 ± 0.02 Bq kg−1 dw−1), small longhair male as well. As results showed, mainly dog hair color as well as their age and gender influenced the differences in the values of 210Pb concentrations in analyzed hair samples. Also the values of activity ratios of 210Po/210Pb in analyzed dog hair samples were calculated and obtained results were similar to those observed in human hair.

Characterization of 241Pu occurrence, distribution, and bioaccumulation in seabirds from northern Eurasia

The paper presents unique data of plutonium 241Pu study in seabirds from northern Eurasia, permanently or temporally living at the southern Baltic Sea coast. Together, ten marine birds species were examined, as follows: three species that permanently reside at the southern Baltic, four species of wintering birds, and three species of migrating birds; 366 samples were analyzed. The obtained results indicated plutonium was non-uniformly distributed in organs and tissues of analyzed seabirds. The highest 241Pu content was found in the digestion organs and feathers, the lowest in muscles. Also, the internal radiation doses from 241Pu were evaluated.