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The Geochemistry of Natural Radionuclides in Saline Soils from Brazil Treated with Phosphogypsum Imbituba

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Abstract

The soil saltiness in the Brazilian semiarid environment is a common problem caused by incorrect agricultural practices, allied to the local weather and soil condition. The use of phosphogypsum (PG) to recover these soils still is a concern since this material has in its composition natural radionuclides. An experiment was conducted to study the use of phosphogypsum to reduce the salinity and evaluate the bioavailability of radionuclides on the Brazilian semiarid region soils. The radionuclide content of phosphogypsum samples were previously analyzed by gamma spectrometry. Three differents doses of phosphogypsum were mixed with samples of surface soil in the greenhouse, and after a reaction time and irrigation, controlled soil samples + phosphogypsum underwent simple extractions based on the sequential extraction method by Tessier et al. Ra isotopes and 210Pb in the extracted fractions were analyzed by counting alpha and beta. The higher concentration of Ra isotopes and 210Pb were associated to residual fraction, followed by exchangeable fraction due to the low levels of carbonates, organic matter, and manganese and iron oxides. The use of phosphogypsum studied did not contribute to increase the 226Ra activity on the analyzed soils. 226Ra levels in phosphogypsum were lower than those recommended by the USEPA to allow the use of phosphogypsum in agricultural soils, but can contribute to the accumulation of 228Ra and 210Pb. The phosphogypsum Imbituba promoted a satisfactory reduction of electrical conductivity in the soils, which indicates the possibility of recovery of these soils.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the scholarship and financial support. The authors are grateful to Mr. Ferreira for authorizing the PG sample collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia, Avenida Venezuela, 82 - Saúde, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 20081-312, Brazil

    Renata Coura Borges & Weber Friederichs Landim de Souza

  2. Departamento de Geoquímica Ambiental, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Outeiro de São João Batista s/n, Campus do Valonguinho, Centro, Niterói, RJ, 24020-150, Brazil

    Alfredo Victor Bellido Bernedo

  3. Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear, Cidade Universitária-Ilha do Fundão, Rua Helio de Almeida 75, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, 21941-906, Brazil

    Alfredo Aghina Ferreira

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  1. Renata Coura Borges
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  2. Alfredo Aghina Ferreira
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  3. Weber Friederichs Landim de Souza
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  4. Alfredo Victor Bellido Bernedo
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Correspondence to Renata Coura Borges.

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Borges, R.C., Ferreira, A.A., de Souza, W.F.L. et al. The Geochemistry of Natural Radionuclides in Saline Soils from Brazil Treated with Phosphogypsum Imbituba. Water Air Soil Pollut 228, 59 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-016-3235-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-016-3235-y

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