Radioactive contamination in Albania following the Chernobyl accident

The radiation situation in Tirana following the Chernobyl accident is discussed. The dynamics of -radioactive conamination of the air by filters and fallout measurements are presented. The list of radionuclides identified by low level -spectrometry is given. The geographical distribution of -radioactive contamination of the vegetation is presented. The influence of relief and other hydrometeorological factors during the accident period is discussed.     

Radioactive contamination of soils in lower Saxony, Germany, after the Chernobyl accident.

The horizontal and spatial distribution of artificial and natural radionuclides in soils, and the vertical migration velocity of 0.8-2.0 cm per annum for caesium were examined in order to determine whether caesium is still in the root zone of major plants and, therefore, part of the food-chain. The vertical distribution patterns of caesium are dependent on the different physico-chemical soil properties. The soil samples were analysed with a pure Ge detector. In south-eastern Lower Saxony, the maximum gamma-activity for 137Cs of 33.3 kBq m-2 was found in a depth range of 0-20 cm (January 1, 1989). This was correlated with areas that had received heavy rainfall on May 4, 1986. On January 1, 1989 approximately 60% of the Chernobyl caesium was still in the top 0-2 cm of the topsoil.     

Plutonium in lungs and livers of persons from Chernobyl fallout affected areas in Byelorussia

^239+240Pu and-when possible-also the ratio²³⁸Pu/^239+240Pu was determined in the lungs and livers of 15 residents from Chernobyl-fallout contaminated areas in Byelorussia. In several cases various sections of the lungs were analyzed separately. With the exception of one person the activity concentrations of^239+240Pu, were always within the range expected from the global fallout of weapon tests in the sixties and did not indicate any contribution of Chernobyl-derived plutonium.     

Radiocesium contamination in soil due to the Chernobyl accident

Three different cereal cultivated fields (rice, maize/wheat, wheat/barley) were selected and soil samples were collected in order to study the behaviour of the radiocesium deposited over the crops after the Chernobyl accident fall-out (April 1986) together with its distribution at different ground depths. For each field, soil samples were removed during the sowing (Oct–Nov '86), in Spring (Apr '87) and during the harvest time (Jun–Sept '87). The⁴⁰K concentration and stable potassium content in soil was also evaluated by nuclear spectrometry and by atomic absorption spectrometry. Beside soil sample measurements, the cultivated cereals produced in the 1986 harvest (rice, maize, wheat) were analyzed to evaluate the deposited contamination, and in order to evaluate the contamination during the growth and naturation we also analyzed whole plants (roots, stalks, grains) of the cultivated cereals (rice, wheat, barley) in 1987. Results are presented and discussed.     

Radioactive pollution of Turkish biotas one year after the Chernobyl accident

Long-lived fission radionuclides spread out after the Chernobyl accident have been measured in samples collected from the Black Sea and at the Aegean coasts of Turkey between June 15 and September 15, 1987. Nondestructive analysis was performed using high resolution -spectroscopy. The activity remaining 16 months after the event was found to be enhanced in coniferous needles as well as in lichens, while foodstuff did not show any appreciable contamination. The relatively high¹⁰⁶Ru/¹³⁴Cs and¹⁴⁴Ce/¹³⁴Cs ratios compared to those found in analogous samples from Southern Europe, might result from a fractionation between refractory and volatile elements.     

Did the radioactive contamination in Hungary due to the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power station had a biopositive effect on plants?

Due to the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power station /26.04. 1986, USSR/ the radioactive contamination level /e.g.,¹³⁴Cs,¹³⁷Cs/ of the biosphere in Hungary increased significantly. The external -dose burden from the contaminated ground surface and atmosphere, and the radioactive isotopes taken up directly through the leaves and indirectly from the soil through the root system had a low-dose effect on the plants which was in the dose-range of stimulation /biopositive effect/.     

Long-term 137Cs contamination of mushrooms following the Chernobyl fallout

In the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident high concentrations of ¹³⁷ Cs were found in mushrooms in several European countries and inSweden. Two edible mushrooms species were selected for a long-term investigationin order to evaluate the ¹³⁷Cs contamination over a long time.Samples of Suillus variegatus and Cantharellus spp. were collected from 1986to 1998 and their ¹³⁷ Cs contents assessed. The results show thatthe activity of ¹³⁷Cs remained more or less constant in Suillusvariegatus, while it increased in Cantharellus spp. This reflects the forestecosystem of the mushrooms, where nutrient-poor substrates, rich in organicsubstance and with high pH maintain ¹³⁷Cs available for uptake.A decay-correction of the time distribution shows that radioactive decay appearsto be the main factor affecting the content of ¹³⁷Cs in mushrooms,at least in the medium term.     

Some aspects of radioactive contamination after Chernobyl accident in Romania

After the Chernobyl disaster, the radioactive cloud passage over Romania beginning with the April 30th, 1986 caused fall-out of different intensities in different regions.. The principal contributors to the radioactive exposure during the month of May and rest of 1986 were the short and medium half-live radionuclides: ¹³²Te+¹³²I, ¹³¹I, ¹⁴⁰Ba+¹⁴⁰La, ¹⁰³Ru+¹⁰³Rh, ¹⁰⁶Ru+¹⁰⁶Rh, ⁹⁵Zr+⁹⁵Nb, ¹³⁶Cs, ¹³⁴Cs, ¹⁴¹Ce, ¹⁴⁴Ce and ¹²⁵Sb. After four-five years only ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr remained significant radioactive contaminants. During May 1986 the grass was the mostly affected component of the environment and it contaminated rapidly the majority of foods. Measurements made on the daily gathered pollen samples and eggs during May 1986 clearly indicated that these samples can be used as bioindicators of radioactive contamination of the atmospheric air and, respectively, for soil and grass. Regarding soil contamination, the higher ^134+137Cs deposits in Romania following the northeast-southwest direction were measured, some of these being above 80 kBq/m². This direction is the same with the cloud passage over Romania during the first week of May 1986 and it was confirmed by measurements in the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, and south of Italy.     

Depth profiles of long lived radionuclides in Chernobyl soils sampled around 10 years after the accident

Depth profiles of the long-lived radionuclides, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, Pu isotopes and ²⁴¹Am were examined in undisturbed sandy, peaty and Podsol soils in the Chernobyl 30 km exclusion zone sampled around 10 years after the accident. Two Podsol soils, which have different radioactive deposition characteristics, have also been examined. Activity ratios of ^239,240Pu/¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr/¹³⁷Cs, and ²⁴¹Am/¹³⁷Cs in the 0-1 cm layer of the two Podsol soils differed very much. Speciation of the radionuclides by sequential selective extraction was examined in the soils. Depth profiles of the soils have been analyzed according to the speciation results and soil characteristics.     

Radioactive contamination of the forests of Southern Poland and Finland

Experimental data of caesium and ruthenium radioactivity in chosen parts of forest ecosystems in Finland and Southern Poland are presented and compared. Measurements were performed with a low-background -spectrometer coupled with a Ge/Li/ detector. The maximum caesium-137 activity in litter from Poland is 2.5 kBq, in that from Finland 3.9 kBq, in spruce needles it is 0.4 kBq /Poland/, 0.9 kBq /Finland/ and in fern leaves it is as high as 15.9 kBq per kg of dry mass in one sample from Poland.     

Foliary contamination in the area of Bratislava (Czecho-Slovakia) after the Chernobyl accident

The contamination of leaves of some ornamental and fruit-tree plants (18 species), herbs (6) and early leafy vegetable (2) were assessed in the region of Bratislava and its vicinity through the first months after the Chernobyl accident. The levels of contamination showed local and temporal dependence. In October compared to its levels five months earlier, foliar contamination showed a relative 12- to 200-fold decrease of radioactivity. The effective half-life of the mixture of fission products in cumulative fallout on leaves of vegetation changed depending on time after the accident from 4 days (on day 10) to 150 days (after 2 months). The soluble fraction of radioactive contaminants on plant foliage ranged from 0.12 to 0.64.     

Radioactive contamination distribution in the bottom sediments and water of the Mishelyak River

Joint Russian-American field studies have been conducted within theframework of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Atomic Energyfor the Russian Federation and the U.S. Department of Energy and managed bythe Joint Coordinating Committee on Environmental Restoration and Waste Management(JCCEM). We conducted the field studies discussed in this report in 1996 nearthe Mayak Production Association in the South Urals, Russia. The primary purposeof the research was to apply new methods to study the distribution of a contaminantplume originating from Lake Karachai, an unlined radioactive waste repository,which is currently migrating into the Mishelyak River valley. This researchwas conducted within the frontal part of the contaminant water plume. Thestudies from this work include: surface water and soil moisture sampling within situ radiometric measurements. The data from the radiometric measurementsobtained in the field were then compared to laboratory measurements of fieldsamples. Due to the possible inflow of the radionuclides from the groundwaterto the Mishelyak River, this paper also describes the study of river bottomsediments and water contamination.     

Monitoring of large scale contamination of the environment: The learning of Chernobyl

The Chernobyl fallout offered the possibility to test new monitoring methods and better understand the behaviour of radionuclides in natural and semi-natural environments. The research started after the Chernobyl accident confirmed previous knowledge, yet producing new information on the radioecology of forested ecosystems. Biological indicators were used with success to establish a relationship between ground deposition and radioactive transfer to wildlife and to evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiations at low doses.     

Radioactive characterization of charcoal as a tool in identifying fossil contamination

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - In the pyrolysis process carried out to obtain charcoal from plants, a concentration of the radionuclides found in trace amounts in the raw...     

Alpha-emitting radionuclide contents in food samples as related to the Chernobyl accident

As a preliminary survey to establish intake of -emitting nuclides, in particular^239,240Pu, from a daily diet for inhabitants living near the Chernobyl reactor site, some kinds of food samples including total diet samples were collected in the Chernobyl (Ukraine) area and in the Ibaraki prefecture (Japan). Plutonium-239 and 240 were determined together with naturally occurring -emitters²²⁶Ra and U isotopes (²³⁴U,²³⁵U and²³⁸U) by -spectrometry after chemical separation. In most of the samples studied,^239,240Pu was less than the detectable amount, but in some mushrooms from the Ukraine it was found to be 41.6 mBq kg^–1 (wet mass) with a high activity ratio(0.58±0.08) of²³⁸Pu/^239,240Pu, indicating that nearly 100% of the^239,240Pu was attributable to the accident. Concentrations of²²⁶Ra and²³⁸U varied largely, depending on the samples. The measured activity ratios of²³⁵U/²³⁸U for some samples showed the isotopic composition of natural uranium.     

Fingerprinting food: current technologies for the detection of food adulteration and contamination

Major food adulteration and contamination events seem to occur with some regularity, such as the widely publicised adulteration of milk products with melamine and the recent microbial contamination of vegetables across Europe for example. With globalisation and rapid distribution systems, these can have international impacts with far-reaching and sometimes lethal consequences. These events, though potentially global in the modern era, are in fact far from contemporary, and deliberate adulteration of food products is probably as old as the food processing and production systems themselves. This review first introduces some background into these practices, both historically and contemporary, before introducing a range of the technologies currently available for the detection of food adulteration and contamination. These methods include the vibrational spectroscopies: near-infrared, mid-infrared, Raman; NMR spectroscopy, as well as a range of mass spectrometry (MS) techniques, amongst others. This subject area is particularly relevant at this time, as it not only concerns the continuous engagement with food adulterers, but also more recent issues such as food security, bioterrorism and climate change. It is hoped that this introductory overview acts as a springboard for researchers in science, technology, engineering, and industry, in this era of systems-level thinking and interdisciplinary approaches to new and contemporary problems.     

Analytical quality assurance in the german food contamination monitoring programme

Summary The general and analytical strategy for a monitoring project for various chemical elements, nitrate and some halogenated organic compounds in milk, beef, pork, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, apples and strawberries within the activities of official food control in the Federal Republic of Germany is outlined.

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Analytische Qualitätssicherung im Rahmen eines deutschen Programms zur Überwachung von Lebensmittelverunreinigungen

     

Radioactive contamination of groundwater at the Andreeva Bay Shore Technical Base,Northwest Russia

The Andreeva Bay Shore Technical Base is one of the largest, most contaminated nuclear legacy sites in Northwest Russia. Radioactive contamination at the site stems from servicing and maintenance activites for Russian Northern Fleet nuclear submarine. Studies of groundwater contamination have been conducted using measurements taken at different boreholes around the site. Results indicate that groundwater contamination has occurred in some areas of the Andreeva Bay facility. These areas are primarily located near Building 5 where accidental releases occurred in 1982 during storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and near the liquid and solid radioactive waste (LRW and SRW) storage facilities which have been infiltrated by precipitation waters.     

基于G-四链体的生物传感器在食品污染物检测中的研究进展

食品污染物不仅对人类健康造成了严重威胁,还会给食品工业造成巨大的经济损失。G-四链体(G4)是由鸟嘌呤的碱基配对形成的核酸三维二级结构,具有灵活的绑定能力,已成为生物传感器的重要组成部分。将G4与生物传感器结合用于食品中污染物的检测得到了广泛的应用。本文对G4进行了简介,综述了2015～2022年间G4在食品污染物检测中的研究进展,并对其未来的发展趋势进行了展望。     

Dry,wet and cumulative fallout and milk contamination in Bratislava (Czecho-Slovakia) after the Chernobyl accident

The total -radioactivity of dry, wet and cumulative fallout and the radioactivity of cow milk was measured in Bratislava in the first month after the Chernobyl accident. The obtained results are in good agreement with the results of the monitoring net in Slovakia.