Bioaccumulation of polonium 210Po in marine birds

Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times

Bird feathers have been widely used as environmental indicators, providing key information on environmental pollution. However, there is little available information on the adsorption of natural radioactivity in bird feathers and consequently, its impact on the field of movement ecology is not yet known. This study investigates the concentration and distribution of 210Pb in wing- and tail-feathers of different bird species with contrasting migratory strategies, and discusses its potential use as a tracer of age and flight times. Adsorption of 210Pb in bird feathers is directly related to the interaction of feathers with air, therefore it is hypothesised that the presence of this radionuclide is proportional to the length of flight times, and is asymmetrically distributed in flight feathers. Consequently, a significant difference is expected between 210Pb concentrations in feathers of long-distance migrants when compared to sedentary species. For this purpose, a total of 45 samples from eight individuals of three bird species with distinct migratory strategies were analysed: a highly aerial and long-distance migratory species (Common swift Apus apus), and two largely sedentary species widely distributed across Europe (Great tit Parus major and Tawny owl Strix aluco). Novel findings show that the content of 210Pb in bird feathers of adult migratory birds is much higher than in sedentary birds or juvenile individuals, demonstrating this naturally occurring radionuclide can provide information about the contact time between feathers and air. Additionally, 210Pb adsorption was not evenly distributed in bird feathers. The findings provide a new method to trace age and flight time of birds using 210Pb in feathers, complementing conventional techniques in bird migration studies.

Detection of Polonium-210 in Environmental, Biological and Food Samples: A Review

Ingestion of polonium-210 from environmental media and food can cause serious health hazards (e.g., gastrointestinal symptoms, tumours, etc.) and has been a public health concern worldwide since the 2006 poisoning of Agent Litvinenko 210Po in Russia. With the development of uranium mining and applications of nuclear technology in recent decades, the radioactive hazards posed by 210Po to living organisms and the environment have become increasingly prominent. In order to strengthen the monitoring of environmental 210Po and protect both the environment and human health, a series of explorations on the methods of 210Po determination have been ongoing by researchers across the globe. However, previous reviews have focused on individual sample types and have not provided a comprehensive account of environmental, food, and biological samples that are closely related to human health. In this work, the sources, health hazards, chemical purification, and detection methods of trace 210Po in different sample types are systematically reviewed. In particular, the advantages and disadvantages of various pretreatment methods are compared, and relevant domestic and international standards are integrated, which puts forward a new direction for the subsequent establishment of rapid, simple, and efficient measurement methods.

Background 210Po activity concentrations in Greenland marine biota and dose assessment

Polonium-210 (²¹⁰Po) is a radionuclide sentinel as it bioaccumulates in marine organisms, thereby being the main contributor to committed dietary doses in seafood consumers. Although seafood and marine mammals are an important part of the traditional Inuit diet, there is a general lack of information on the ²¹⁰Po concentrations in the Greenlandic marine food chain leading to the human consumer. Here, we determine background ²¹⁰Po concentrations in edible parts of different marine organisms from Greenland and provide a dose assessment. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), organs of ringed seal (Pusa hispida) and polar bear (Ursus maritimus) displayed significantly elevated ²¹⁰Po concentrations in respect to all other studied organisms (p < 0.001). ²¹⁰Po concentrations ranged from 0.02 Bq kg^-1, w.w. in Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) muscle to 78 Bq kg^-1, w.w. and 202 Bq kg^-1, w.w. in ringed seal muscle and kidneys, respectively. ²¹⁰Po concentration ratio for edible parts increases in the order bladderwrack (Fucus Vesiculosus), northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis), blue mussels, and from fish species to ringed seal and polar bear. ²¹⁰Po distribution in fish, ringed seal, and polar bear follows a general pattern, the lowest concentrations were in muscle, and the highest concentrations were in the organs involved in metabolism. The derived ²¹⁰Po annual absorbed dose in edible parts of studied marine organisms are several orders of magnitude lower than the recommended dose rate screening value of 10 μGy h^-1. Effective doses from intake of ²¹⁰Po to Greenland average children (1.4 mSv y^-1), and high seafood and marine mammal consumers (2 mSv y^-1 for adults and 3.6 mSv y^-1 for children) are higher than the world average annual effective dose due to ingestion of naturally occurring radionuclides.

210Po and 210Pb activity concentrations in Greenlandic seabirds and dose assessment

Naturally occurring radionuclides, in particular, polonium-210 (²¹⁰Po), have a greater contribution than anthropogenic radionuclides to the annual effective dose received by the general public due to consumption of seafood. Knowledge of potential trophic sources and transfer of ²¹⁰Po to seabird species and subsequently to the Greenlandic people is, however, still poor. Here, we assess the transfer of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb to seabirds sampled during autumn and winter 2017 and 2018 in Greenland and provide a dose assessment. The activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po in muscle and liver, respectively, ranged from 0.2 ± 0.1 Bq kg^-1 w.w. in glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) to 21.2 ± 22.6 Bq kg^-1 w.w. in thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) and from 32.0 ± 9.4 Bq kg^-1 w.w. in common eider (Somateria mollissima) to 40.5 ± 49.0 Bq kg^-1 w.w. in thick-billed murre. ²¹⁰Po was non-uniformly distributed in the body of thick-billed murre. Kidneys and feathers showed higher ²¹⁰Po activity concentrations than heart and bone. The ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb activity concentration ratios are higher than unity, indicating that ²¹⁰Po is preferentially taken up by seabirds compared to its progenitor ²¹⁰Pb. The derived annual absorbed dose from ²¹⁰Po to the whole body of thick-billed murre was 6.4 × 10² ± 3.0 × 10² μGy. The annual effective dose to the average adult and representative person in Greenland due to ingestion of ²¹⁰Po in seabirds was estimated to 13.0 μSv and 57.0 μSv, respectively. This derived dose is low and poses a slight risk, and risk communication is therefore deemed unnecessary.

Removal of 210Po from aqueous media and its thermodynamics and kinetics

In this study, the composite adsorbent as granule was prepared by mixing of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and a natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) in specific conditions. The prepared composite adsorbent was used for investigating the adsorption behaviour of ²¹⁰Po. Adsorption of ²¹⁰Po was studied in a column system. The effective parameters such as initial activity concentration of ²¹⁰Po, pH of the aqueous solution, contact time and temperature of solution for adsorption behaviour of ²¹⁰Po were studied. Adsorption yield of ²¹⁰Po on composite adsorbent from aqueous solution in optimum conditions were determined as 75.00 ± 0.15%. The adsorption equilibrium data was examined using various well-known isotherm models such as Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin and Radushkevish and Tempkin, and it was observed that the experimental equilibrium data well fitted and found to be in good agreement with the Tempkin model. Adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics of the polonium were studied. It was found that the processes for ²¹⁰Po were exothermic and spontaneous. The kinetic data conformed better to the pseudo-second order equation.

The sources and fate of (210)Po in the urban air: A review

The origin of (210)Po activity and its fluctuations in the air are discussed in this paper. In the case of atmospheric aerosol samples, a comparison of the (210)Po/(210)Pb and (210)Bi/(210)Pb activity ratios makes it possible not only to determine aerosol residence times but also to appraise the contribution of the unsupported (210)Po coming from other sources than (222)Rn decay, such as human industrial activities, especially coal combustion. A simple mathematical method makes it possible to observe the seasonal fluctuations of the anthropogenic excess of (210)Po in the urban air. The average doses of (210)Po intake with food (including drinking water) and inhalation of urban aerosols are usually lower than those from (210)Po intake by cigarette smokers and negligible in comparison to total natural radiation exposure.

(210)Polonium and (210)lead content of marine birds from Southeastern Brazil

In this study, we report the (210)Po and (210)Pb concentrations of bone, muscle and liver samples that were obtained from twelve different marine bird species stranded on beaches in the central-north region of Rio de Janeiro State. Both radionuclides were highly concentrated in the liver samples; however, the lowest mean (210)Po/(210)Pb activity ratio (1.3) was observed in bones compared with liver and muscle (16.8 and 13.8, respectively). Among the species that were studied, Fregata magnificens, with a diet based exclusively on fish, had the lowest (210)Pb and (210)Po concentrations and the lowest (210)Po/(210)Pb activity ratio. The (210)Po concentrations in Puffinus spp. liver samples followed a log-normal distribution, with a geometric mean of 300 Bq kg(-1)wet weight. Only two references pertaining to (210)Po in marine birds were found in a Web of Science search of the literature, and each study reported a different concentration value. The values determined in this experiment are consistent with those in one of the previous studies, which also included one of the species studied in this work. No values for (210)Pb in marine birds have been published previously.

Levels of 210Po and 210Pb in mussel and sediments in Candarlı Gulf and the related dose assessment to the coastal population

(210)Po and (210)Pb in mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and sediment samples collected at Candarlı Gulf during the period of 2010-2012 are presented and discussed. The activity concentrations of (210)Po and (210)Pb were measured by means of alpha spectrometry. Activity concentrations of (210)Po and (210)Pb in mussels are in the ranged of 332±17-776±23 Bq kg(-1)dw and 14±1-40±5 Bq kg(-1) dw, for sediments the ranges for 52±5-109±8 Bq kg(-1)dw and 38±5-92±9 Bq kg(-1) dw, respectively. The estimated consequent annual effective ingestion dose due to (210)Po and (210)Pb from mussel consumption in Candarlı Gulf coastal region were calculated. The highest dose due to (210)Po and (210)Po were calculated to be 4232±126 μSv and 126±16 μSv, respectively.

Polonium, uranium and plutonium radionuclides in aquatic and land ecosystem of Poland

This article presents the results of study about distribution, inflow and accumulation of polonium, uranium and plutonium in aquatic and land environment of Poland and the southern Baltic Sea. Radionuclides of (210)Po, (234)U and (238)U as well as (239+240)Pu and (241)Pu are strongly accumulated in Baltic organisms and plants and transferred through the trophic chain. The values of bioconcentration factor (BCF) in Baltic plants and animals are higher for polonium and plutonium in comparison with uranium. The principal source of radionuclides in the southern Baltic Sea is their inflow with rivers. Total annual runoff of polonium, uranium and plutonium from the Vistula and the Odra as well as the Pomeranian rivers were calculated at 95 GBq of (210)Po, 750 GBq of (234+238)U and 160 MBq of (238+239+240)Pu. Seasonal and spatial variability of (210)Po, (238)U and (239+240)Pu levels in the Vistula and the Odra drainage basins were assessed by application of neural-network based classification, especially cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA) and self-organizing maps (SOM). The result for the Vistula river indicated correlation between polonium and plutonium as well as polonium and uranium. In the Odra drainage basin, the biggest differences were observed in the case of (238)U. To assess if there are statistically significant differences in mean concentration values of (210)Po, (238)U and (239+240)Pu for the Vistula and the Odra rivers drainage basins were obtained by used of the non-parametric tests. Comparing to the Vistula catchment area, statistically differences concentration of (210)Po and (239+240)Pu in all year was observed for river samples collected on the Odra drainage basin.

Plutonium bioaccumulation in seabirds

The aim of the paper was plutonium (²³⁸Pu and ²³⁹⁺²⁴⁰Pu) determination in seabirds, permanently or temporarily living in northern Poland at the Baltic Sea coast. Together 11 marine birds species were examined: 3 species permanently residing in the southern Baltic, 4 species of wintering birds and 3 species of migrating birds. The obtained results indicated plutonium is non-uniformly distributed in organs and tissues of analyzed seabirds. The highest plutonium content was found in the digestion organs and feathers, the smallest in skin and muscles. The plutonium concentration was lower in analyzed species which feed on fish and much higher in herbivorous species. The main source of plutonium in analyzed marine birds was global atmospheric fallout.

Levels and transfer of 210Po and 210Pb in Nordic terrestrial ecosystems

Recent developments regarding environmental impact assessment methodologies for radioactivity have precipitated the need for information on levels of naturally occurring radionuclides within and transfer to wild flora and fauna. The objectives of this study were therefore to determine activity concentrations of the main dose forming radionuclides (210)Po and (210)Pb in biota from terrestrial ecosystems thus providing insight into the behaviour of these radioisotopes. Samples of soil, plants and animals were collected at Dovrefjell, Central Norway and Olkiluoto, Finland. Soil profiles from Dovrefjell exhibited an approximately exponential fall in (210)Pb activity concentrations from elevated levels in humus/surface soils to "supported" levels at depth. Activity concentrations of (210)Po in fauna (invertebrates, mammals, birds) ranged between 2 and 123 Bq kg(-1)d.w. and in plants and lichens between 20 and 138 Bq kg(-1)d.w. The results showed that soil humus is an important reservoir for (210)Po and (210)Pb and that fauna in close contact with this media may also exhibit elevated levels of (210)Po. Concentration ratios appear to have limited applicability with regards to prediction of activity concentrations of (210)Po in invertebrates and vertebrates. Biokinetic models may provide a tool to explore in a more mechanistic way the behaviour of (210)Po in this system.