Distribution of 137Cs in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea and East China Sea: Sources, budgets and environmental implications

Zhang, Fule; Wang, Jinlong; Liu, Dantong; Bi, Qianqian; Du, Jinzhou

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.001

Cited by 24 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…Horizontal distribution of 137 Cs. Over 200 datasets containing information on surface seawater 137 Cs in the China Seas were combined 12,13,[25][26][27][28]31 . The 137 Cs activity in surface seawater of the China Seas varied from 0.03 to 1.80 Bq m −3 , averaging 0.74 ± 0.34 Bq m −3 (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fluvial input is an additional 137 Cs source to the China Seas, due to the abundant detrital materials delivered by the rivers of China (e.g., the Pearl River, Yangtze River and Yellow River) that may carry 137 Cs 26,32 . For example, the Yangtze River discharges a terrestrial particle flux of about 1.3 × 10 8 tons/year into the ECS 33 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 3. The relationships between 137 Cs activity and the salinity (a) and temperature (b) of surface seawater in the China Seas (data soured from previous studies 12,13,[25][26][27][28]31 ). This figure was prepared with Sigma-Plot professional 10.0 software.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The red circles and blue squares represent surface seawater and surface sediment sample collection sites, respectively. The sampling locations of surface seawater and surface sediment are cited from previous studies (East China Sea 5,13,[24][25][26]31,44,45,49 ; South China Sea 6,12,13,28,30,39,76 ; Yellow Sea 26,27,29 ). (b) a schematic chart of the China Seas surface current: the Kuroshio, and the North Equatorial Current (NEC), represented by the blue dotted lines.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, the activity level and distribution of 137 Cs in ECS seawater were investigated after the FDNPP accident 24,25 . Zhang et al 26 discussed the source and budget of 137 Cs in the ECS covering a small area based on a limited 137 Cs dataset. Hao et al 27 investigated the activity level of 137 Cs in coastal seawater of the Bohai Sea.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Distribution and budget of 137Cs in the China Seas

Wang

Xiao

Sun

2020

Sci Rep

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Cesium-137 is one of the most abundant anthropogenic radionuclides released by atmospheric nuclear testing and nuclear accidents, and accordingly it may significantly impact the health of humans and marine environmental ecosystems. Documenting the distribution and inventory of 137 cs is thus a crucial task. In this study, we collected a large number of datasets with field observations of 137 cs in the China Seas, in order to provide an in-depth understanding of 137 Cs budgets and distributions. The activity and inventory of 137 Cs in China Seas' sediments showed large spatial variations, related to the 137 Cs source, sedimentation rates and the mineral composition of sediments. The 137 Cs concentration in sediments decreased with distance from the shore, generally tracing the distribution of sedimentation rates. High 137 Cs inventories in the water column indicated a high solubility and long mean residence times. The mean residence times of 137 Cs in the China Seas were determined to be 45.6 ± 3.8 years for the South China Sea (SCS), 36.8 ± 3.1 years for the East China Sea (ECS), and 12.0 ± 1.0 years for the Yellow Sea (YS). A 137 Cs mass balance suggests that oceanic input from the north Pacific is the dominant 137 Cs source to the China Seas, contributing about 96.9% of this substance. Furthermore, the bulk of 137 Cs remains dissolved in the SCS water column, while 137 Cs is mostly deposited to the sediments of the ECS and the YS. This new compilation of the activity level and inventory of 137 Cs help to establish background levels for future 137 Cs studies in the China Seas. The fission product 137 Cs (t 1/2 = 30.17 years) has been introduced into the marine environment by nuclear bombs, nuclear accidents, and nuclear power plants since the 1940s. The estimated 137 Cs inventory of the global ocean is ~603 PBq (1 PBq=10 15 Bq), accounting for over 60% of the total global fallout 1. Additionally, 137 Cs has high radiotoxicity and is easily absorbed by muscular tissues. Therefore, the environmental impact of 137 Cs has become of great concern to the society since the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, which occurred in 2011 2 .

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution and budget of 137Cs in the China Seas

Wang

Xiao

Sun

2020

Sci Rep

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Assessment of metal(loid) and natural radionuclide pollution in surface sediments of an estuary affected by mining and phosphogypsum releases

Guerrero,

Barba-Lobo,

Romero-Forte

et al. 2024

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The prolonged impact over the Tinto River estuary by both the significant pollution by acid mine drainage (AMD) affecting this river and the polluted releases from phosphogypsum (PG) piles has led to the severe environmental degradation of this ecosystem. The aim of this work was to assess the current environmental quality of the Tinto River estuary through the study of the spatial distribution of metal(loid)s and natural radionuclides in the surface sediments from the channel edge. The sediments contain mean concentrations 5–20 times higher than the background values for pollutants such as Zn, As, Cu, Pb, or U, and up to two orders of magnitude higher for P. The studied sediments are heavily polluted by toxic heavy metals and metalloids (Pb, Zn, Cu, and As) according to the US EPA guidelines. Most of the analyzed sediment samples are also strongly polluted by long-lived natural radionuclides, mainly U-isotopes and 210Pb with concentrations up to one order of magnitude higher than unpolluted sediments, mostly due to the contribution by the PG leachates. The enrichment factors (EF) were extremely high (EF > 50) for As and very severe enrichment (25 ≤ EF < 50) for P, Cd, Zn, Cu, and Pb.

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