TY - JOUR

T1 - Concentrations of iodine isotopes (129I and 127I) and their isotopic ratios in aerosol samples from Northern Germany

AU - Daraoui, Abdelouahed

AU - Riebe, Beate

AU - Walther, Clemens

AU - Wershofen, H.

AU - Schlosser, C.

AU - Vockenhuber, Christof

AU - Synal, Hans Arno

N1 - Funding information: Aerosol samples were analyzed within the KVFS II project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under contract No. 02 NUK 015D. We wish to thank Monika Gorny for the sample preparation. We also thank Prof. Dr. Carla Vogt (Institute for inorganic chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover) for giving us the opportunity to perform the ICP-MS measurements at her institute.

PY - 2016/2/8

Y1 - 2016/2/8

N2 - New data about 129I, 127I concentrations and their isotopic ratios in aerosol samples from the trace survey station of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, Northern Germany, are presented and discussed in this paper. The investigated samples were collected on a weekly basis during the years 2011 to 2013. Iodine was extracted from aerosol filters using a strong basic solution and was separated from the matrix elements with chloroform and was analysed by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for 129I and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for 127I. The concentrations of 127I and 129I in aerosol filters ranged from 0.31 to 3.71 ng m-3 and from 0.06 to 0.75 fg m-3, respectively. The results of 129I/127I isotopic ratios were in the order 10-8 to 10-7. The 129I originated directly from gaseous emissions and indirectly from liquid emissions (via sea spray) from the reprocessing plants in Sellafield and La Hague. In comparison with the results of 131I after the Fukushima accident, no contribution of 129I from this accident was detectable in Central Europe due to the high background originating from the 129I releases of the European reprocessing plants. 129I atmospheric activity concentrations were compared with those of an anthropogenic radionuclide (85Kr). We did not find any correlation between 129I and 85Kr, both having nuclear reprocessing plant as the main source.

AB - New data about 129I, 127I concentrations and their isotopic ratios in aerosol samples from the trace survey station of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, Northern Germany, are presented and discussed in this paper. The investigated samples were collected on a weekly basis during the years 2011 to 2013. Iodine was extracted from aerosol filters using a strong basic solution and was separated from the matrix elements with chloroform and was analysed by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for 129I and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for 127I. The concentrations of 127I and 129I in aerosol filters ranged from 0.31 to 3.71 ng m-3 and from 0.06 to 0.75 fg m-3, respectively. The results of 129I/127I isotopic ratios were in the order 10-8 to 10-7. The 129I originated directly from gaseous emissions and indirectly from liquid emissions (via sea spray) from the reprocessing plants in Sellafield and La Hague. In comparison with the results of 131I after the Fukushima accident, no contribution of 129I from this accident was detectable in Central Europe due to the high background originating from the 129I releases of the European reprocessing plants. 129I atmospheric activity concentrations were compared with those of an anthropogenic radionuclide (85Kr). We did not find any correlation between 129I and 85Kr, both having nuclear reprocessing plant as the main source.

KW - Aerosol

KW - AMS

KW - Iodine-129

KW - Krypton-85

KW - Nuclear reprocessing plant

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84957589171&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.01.021

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.01.021

M3 - Article

C2 - 26867099

AN - SCOPUS:84957589171

VL - 154

SP - 101

EP - 108

JO - Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

JF - Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

SN - 0265-931X

ER -