Excess of polonium-210 activity in the surface urban atmosphere. Part 2: origin of ²¹⁰Po excess

Abstract

The presence of significant (210)Po activity, unsupported by its grandparent radionuclide (210)Pb, in the surface atmosphere of industrialized regions can originate from human technical activities. In urban air, the activity ratio of (210)Po to (210)Pb might increase as a result of natural condensation and coagulation processes of relatively volatile (210)Po-containing species emitted during coal combustion processes. The presence of excess of (210)Po cannot be explained by its in-growth from radioactive decay of (210)Bi. About 50% of (210)Po radionuclide released during coal combustion processes can be emitted into air as gaseous or ultrafine products. Subsequently, these products are quickly attached to the surface of fine particles suspended in the air. As a result, an excess of (210)Po activity in aerosols has been reported. However, in this manner, As much as 11 GBq of (210)Po per year can enter the urban air from the local coal power plants in Lodz city, Poland.

Kinetics of 210Po accumulation in moss body profiles

“…For relatively clean areas, the 210 Po activity concentration ranges from 23 to 38 μBq m −3 for the Arctic (Persson 2014 ). For comparison, in urban air, its activity concentration varied between 9.44 and 136.9 μBq m −3 (Długosz-Lisiecka 2015a ). X parameter values obtained on the basis of the proposed method are within the range of values provided by other investigators for France, Italy, Germany, and other European countries (Nho et al 1996 ; Jia and Jia 2014 ; UNSCEAR 2000 ).…”

“…Both are widely used as markers of various atmospheric processes, and because of the disequilibrium between their activity, concentration in fresh aerosols are often use for aerosol residence time calculation method (Persson and Holm 2011 ; Papastefanou 2006 ; Długosz-Lisiecka and Bem 2012 ). Each year up to around 11 × 10 9 Bq of 210 Po can be emitted to the urban air from the local coal power plants in Lodz city, Poland (Długosz-Lisiecka 2015b ).…”

210Pb and 210Po in Geological and Related Anthropogenic Materials: Implications for Their Mineralogical Distribution in Base Metal Ores

“…Enhanced atmospheric 210 Po in urban areas may be attributed to coal-fired power stations [127,128]. In a comparison of emissions from power plants fuelled by different hydrocarbon fuels, Häsänen et al [129] point out that the greatest emissions of 210 Po per burnt volume of fuel were from combustion of peat.…”

Modeling of 210Pb and 210Po radionuclide emissions from local power plants in central Poland

“…The major source of 210 Pb radionuclides in the atmosphere is 222 Rn exhalation from the ground. Radionuclide 210 Po arises from 210 Pb as a result of two successive beta decays (eqn (1) dynamic processes like removal or washout ratios, [1][2][3] residence time [4][5][6][7] and exchange in air masses within or between the troposphere and stratosphere. 8 In recent years both isotopes were applied for tracing airborne pollutants and have been widely used in investigating their dispersion in urban air.…”