Radon in the soil air of Estonia

Petersell, V.; Täht-Kok, Krista; Karimov, M. Sh.; Milvek, Heli; Nirgi, Siim; Raha, Margus; Saarik, Krista

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.08.004

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The Mo concentration in Estonian soils decreases from north to south . High Mo concentrations are caused by a very heterogeneous distribution of Mo-rich crushed Dictyonema shale in the parent material of the soil (Petersell et al, 1996Enel, 2003), which we also observed in our study. The Cd concentration in the soils of the studied plantation soils was the same as the average (0.12 mg kg -1 ) values in Estonian soils (Kevvai et al, 1996), except in the case of plantation C, where the Cd concentration was twice as high (0.23 mg kg −1 ).…”

Section: Heavy Metals In Soilsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…The Mo concentration is variable; both high and low Mo levels have been recorded, and the frequency of high Mo concentrations in Estonian soils decreases, moving from north to south . High Mo concentrations are caused by a very heterogeneous distribution of Mo-rich crushed Dictyonema shale in the parent material of the soil (Petersell et al, 1996Enel, 2003), which we also observed in our study. The Estonian average is 1.3 mg•kg -1 of Mo in soil (Enel, 2003).…”

Section: Heavy Metals In Soilsupporting

confidence: 85%

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Phytoremediation capacity of hybrid aspen at sites affected by industry and agriculture

Kaivapalu,

Ots,

Lutter

et al. 2024

Environ Monit Assess

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Fast-growing Populus spp. are well-acknowledged to restore contaminated soils from heavy metals in industrial areas. Thus far, there is no knowledge about the phytoremediation capacity of Populusspp. plantations in hemiboreal conditions to restore industrially polluted areas. The objective of this study was to assess the soil contamination rate of heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb and Zn) and their uptake by mature hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × Populus tremuloides Michx.) in plantations in different industrial pollution areas (e.g. cement factory, thermal power plants, oil shale mining). For the reference, industrially polluted plantations were compared with the low pollution area hybrid aspen plantation on former agricultural soil, which was in uenced by fertilisation and liming before afforestation. Twenty-one years after afforestation, soil samples were collected from the 0-10 cm topsoil layer. Aboveground biomass sampling was performed for bark and stem wood by ingrowth cores to separate wood formed during early (1-10 years) and late (11-21 years) stand development. Two decades after the afforestation of industrially polluted areas, the heavy metal concentrations in the soil were higher than the reference plantation and the standard reference for unpolluted soils in most cases.The highest concentrations of heavy metals in woody biomass were in the oil shale quarry spoil; because of poor growth, the accumulated pools in aboveground biomass were low. Cd differed from other metals and accumulated less in wood and more in bark. The concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn) was higher in the rst decade of stand formation (1-10 years) than in the last 10 years (11-21 years). High pools of heavy metals were accumulated in aboveground biomass in the reference plantation, indicating the considerable removal of heavy metal residues from the previous fertilisation and liming source with harvest. Two decades of afforestation with hybrid aspen is too short for complete ecosystem restoration from heavy metals in industrially polluted areas, but high concentrations in woody biomass indicate a high phytoremediation capacity.

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Section: Heavy Metals In Soilsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Heavy Metals In Soilsupporting

confidence: 85%

Phytoremediation capacity of hybrid aspen at sites affected by industry and agriculture

Kaivapalu,

Ots,

Lutter

et al. 2024

Environ Monit Assess

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The main health damage caused by inhaling radon and its degradation products is lung cancer, which causes 3%-20% of all cases worldwide [71][72][73]. According to Petersell et al [74] in 1/3 of the Estonian territory, including Ida-Viru County, the radon risk exceeds the limit considered safe for unrestricted construction, i.e., 50 kBq/m 3 . Due to the lack of personal-level data on radon exposure, and as exposure exceeding safe levels is prevalent in large areas, we could not take this effect into account.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cancer Incidence Trends in the Oil Shale Industrial Region in Estonia

Idavain

Lang

Tomasova

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Large oil shale resources are found in Eastern Estonia, where the mineral resource is mined, excavated, and used for electricity generation and shale oil extraction. During industrial activities in the last 100 years, pollutants have been emitted in large amounts, some of which are toxic and carcinogenic. The current study aims to analyse time trends in cancer incidence in the oil shale industry-affected areas and compare them with overall cancer incidence rates and trends in Estonia. We analysed Estonian Cancer Registry data on selected cancer sites that have been previously indicated to have relationships with industrial activities like oil shale extraction. We included lung cancer, kidney cancer, urinary bladder cancer, leukaemia, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A statistically significantly higher lung cancer age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) was found during the study period (1992—2015) only in males in the oil shale areas as compared to males in Estonia overall: 133.6 and 95.5 per 100,000, respectively. However, there appeared to be a statistically significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the lung cancer ASIR in males in the oil shale areas (overall decrease 28.9%), whereas at the same time, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in non-oil shale areas (13.3%) and in Estonia overall (1.5%). Other cancer sites did not show higher ASIRs in the oil shale industrial areas compared to other areas in Estonia. Possible explanations could be improved environmental quality, socio-economic factors, and other morbidities.

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