Abstract
The concentrations of210Po have been determined in 12 sediment samples collected from the bed of the Romanian Danube river and the Black Sea coast during June–September 1994. After the sample preparation and the addition of the208Po tracer, polonium was coprecipitated with manganese dioxide, the precipitate was dissolved in hydrochloric acid and the polonium isotopes deposited on silver planchettes were counted by α-spectrometry. The resolution of the subsequent α-spectra was typically 40 to 60 keV full-width-half-maximum with 450 mm2 silicon surface-barrier detectors at 30% counting efficiency. The procedure is quite fast, giving chemical yields between 60 and 80%. The210Po concentrations range between 5 and 73 Bq kg−1 dry, showing for the first time the polonium contamination distribution along the Romanian sector of the Danube river and the Black Sea coast.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
UNSCEAR Report, Ionizing Radiation: Sources and Biological Effects, United Nations (1982).
Y. Takizawa, L. Zhao, M. Yamamoto, T. Abe, K. Ueno,J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem., 138 (1990) 145.
R. D. Cherry, L. V. Shannon,Atomic Energy Review, IAEA Vienna, 12 (1974) 3.
HMIP, Sampling and Measurement of Radionuclides in the Environment, A Report of the Methodology Subgroup to the Radioactivity Research and Environmental Monitoring Committee, Do E. HMSO (1989).
J. L. Smith-Briggs, E. J. Bradley,Sci. Total. Environ., 35 (1984) 431.
R. B. Holtzman,J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem., 115 (1987) 59.
I. I. Georgescu, A. Meghea, S. A. Mihai, Radioactive Pollution Related to Mineralogical Structure of Some Sediments Sampled on the Danube River, Proc. of the Int. Hydrogeological Symp., Constantza, Romania, 1994, p. 239.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mihai, SA., Shaw, G. & Georgescu, I.I. Polonium concentration distribution in bed load sediment samples along the Romanian sector of the Danube river and the Black Sea coast. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Letters 213, 1–8 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02162480
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02162480