High concentrations of 226Ra (865-2,383 Bq kg(1)) were measured in the coal-slags, originated from the region of the settlement Tatabánya, Transdanubian Middle Mountains, Hungary. These slags are commonly used as building materials in this district. The external gamma dose rate was measured in 188 rooms at different heights above the floor. In 124 rooms with slags used for construction, the average absorbed dose rate was 296 nGy h(-1). In 10 apartments the average radon concentration was 502 Bq m(-3). In that case the estimated effective dose due to inhaled radon and its progeny and gamma radiation was 10.3 mSv y(-1).
Exposure to toxic heavy metal content in soil and inherent naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) needs to be monitored, especially after industrial accidents and remediation efforts. Just such an accident happened near Ajka city in Hungary; a large quantity of red mud flooded out from a reservoir. The afflicted area was remediated, and the red mud deposition technology was changed from a wet to a dry procedure. Concerns have been raised about potential hazards from airborne NORM dust in this area. The objectives of this study were to assess the use of explanted tobacco plants as an active biomonitoring system for airborne NORM dust and to reveal weather-related correlations of Po-210 in airborne dust. In 2011, 2012 and 2014, measurements were taken of the following at six monitoring sites in the polluted area and at eight sites in unpolluted areas: soil and tobacco plant Po-210 isotope levels, airborne Rn-222, Ra-226 in soil, Th-232 and K-40 radioactivity concentrations. The transfer factors (TFs) of tobacco were calculated yearly for these isotopes. Association of data with local weather features was determined. In 2012 (the windiest and driest year), the mean Po-210 activity concentrations of tobacco samples in polluted areas were significantly higher than in 2011 and in 2014 (p ¼ 0.044 and p ¼ 0.024, respectively). The mean TF of samples in 2012 was also significantly higher in tobacco plants grown in the polluted area compared to ones grown in unpolluted areas (p ¼ 0.020). These results presumably originate from red mud dust-particle adsorption on tobacco plant leaves. Tobacco plants are promising active bioindicators of airborne particulate pollution by Po-210 or other atmospheric NORM content.
One of the largest biomonitoring tasks is the assessing and environment monitoring of radiological wastes produced by mining. Po-210 and Pb-210 are easy to mobilise even in a weak acidic medium and as we know the biological behaviour and accumulation capacity of tobacco, this could be a suitable option for biomonitoring. During our work the Pb-210 and Po-210 concentration values of tobacco parts and soil samples originating from a Hungarian remediated uranium mine site were determined. The source preparation was spontaneous deposition following combined acidic leaching with a Po-209 tracer; the detection was carried out with a semiconductor ('PIPS') detector alpha-spectrometer. According to the results for the tobacco plant parts and soil samples, secular equilibrium could be found between the Pb-210 and Po-210 isotopes, and the isotope content of the lower leaves of the tobacco plants was in correlation with the isotope concentration of the soil; therefore, the measurement of the activity concentration is suitable for tracing smaller levels of washing out. The Po-210 activity concentration values of tobacco (average: 15.5 ± 3.6 Bq kg(-1)) and soil (average: 60.1 ± 15.2 Bq kg(-1)) samples originating from the area investigated compared with samples from another part of Hungary, Balatonalmádi (tobacco: 12.5 ± 1.0 Bq kg(-1), soil: 57.0 ± 4.7 Bq kg(-1)), do not show significant radionuclide migration.
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