The Sudety Mts. form a chain of mountains in the South of Poland and during the last 200 years were subjected to strong industrial and agricultural pressure. The records of these human-induced changes are stored in natural archives like lake sediments. For the comprehensive study, three sediment cores taken from Mały Staw Lake (Sudety Mts.) were analyzed for the concentration of K, Na, Mn, Fe, Cu, Mg, Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and radioactivity of 137Cs and 210Pb. As a result of the studies, the bathymetry map was developed and the sources of solid material supplied to the lake were identified. The geochronology studies of the cores were performed using 210Pb method, to evaluate model of time changes in the sediment. Radioactivity of 210Pbuns (determined indirectly by 210Po) ranged from 1051 ± 64 to 12 ± 8 Bq kg−1. The 137Cs radioactivity was determined directly by gamma spectrometry and varied from 525 ± 37 Bq kg−1 for top layers to 9.80 ± 5.40 Bq kg−1 for the bottom of the core. Two characteristic peaks of 137Cs radioactivity related to the global fallouts after nuclear weapons testing and the Chernobyl accident were observed and used to confirm 210Pb dating method. Chemometrics analysis of the chosen metal’s concentrations combined with sample dating showed distinct imprint of human activity on the studied area.
In recent years, naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) have become an important topic from the perspective of environmental protection. The list of isotopes that should be monitored in the environment is constantly growing as new amendments to international legislation are introduced. One of the often studied NORM elements is 210Po. In this study, a process of elaborating of a new method of 210Po determination in soil was presented. In the proposed method, several analytical aspects, like the influence of silica decomposition or optimization of an electrode material, were revised. The obtained procedure allows performance of complete radiochemical analysis in a single day, with the chemical efficiency of over 85% and great reduction of costs. Further, the influence of the use of phosphate fertilizers on polonium concentration in soil was also confirmed.
The elevated concentration of 210 Po attached to aerosol particles inside a non-ferrous metal refinery was studied. The aerosols were collected on Petrianov or glass-fiber filters and subsequently subjected to radiochemical procedure consisting of acid leaching and concentration by micro co-precipitation with manganese oxide. For the activity determination alpha spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting (LSC) were applied. The obtained results showed that usually observed polonium concentration inside the plant was lower than 78 mBq m −3 , however short spikes up to 7430 ± 710 mBq m −3 (related to the specific thermal process) were also observed.
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