Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 13601–13611 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Environmental Science and Technology |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue number | 36 |
| Early online date | 30 Aug 2023 |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Sept 2023 |
Abstract
Radionuclides released from nuclear accidents or explosions pose long-term threats to ecosystem health. A prominent example is wild boar contamination in central Europe, which is notorious for its persistently high 137Cs levels. However, without reliable source identification, the origin of this decades old problem has been uncertain. Here, we target radiocesium contamination in wild boars from Bavaria. Our samples (2019-2021) range from 370 to 15,000 Bq·kg-1137Cs, thus exceeding the regulatory limits (600 Bq·kg-1) by a factor of up to 25. Using an emerging nuclear forensic fingerprint, 135Cs/137Cs, we distinguished various radiocesium source legacies in their source composition. All samples exhibit signatures of mixing of Chornobyl and nuclear weapons fallout, with 135Cs/137Cs ratios ranging from 0.67 to 1.97. Although Chornobyl has been widely believed to be the prime source of 137Cs in wild boars, we find that “old” 137Cs from weapons fallout significantly contributes to the total level (10-68%) in those specimens that exceeded the regulatory limit. In some cases, weapons-137Cs alone can lead to exceedances of the regulatory limit, especially in samples with a relatively low total 137Cs level. Our findings demonstrate that the superposition of older and newer legacies of 137Cs can vastly surpass the impact of any singular yet dominant source and thus highlight the critical role of historical releases of 137Cs in current environmental pollution challenges.
Keywords
- cesium isotopes, contaminant persistence, environmental radioactivity, nuclear forensics, wild boar
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Chemistry
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 57, No. 36, 12.09.2023, p. 13601–13611.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Disproportionately High Contributions of 60 Year Old Weapons-137Cs Explain the Persistence of Radioactive Contamination in Bavarian Wild Boars
AU - Stäger, Felix
AU - Zok, Dorian
AU - Schiller, Anna Katharina
AU - Feng, Bin
AU - Steinhauser, Georg
N1 - Funding Information: The authors are indebted to Joachim Reddemann, the Bavarian Hunting Association (BJV), and the many Bavarian hunters who supported this study with samples and interesting discussions. We thank Dieter Swart for provision of the data used in Figures S3 and S4 and Martin Steiner from BfS for the Cs inventory data for Bavaria. Financial support by the Bavarian Academy for Hunting and Nature is gratefully acknowledged. B.F. thanks the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for a postdoctoral fellowship. Some graphics used in Figure 5 were designed by Freepik and provided by the Media Library of University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, respectively. 137
PY - 2023/9/12
Y1 - 2023/9/12
N2 - Radionuclides released from nuclear accidents or explosions pose long-term threats to ecosystem health. A prominent example is wild boar contamination in central Europe, which is notorious for its persistently high 137Cs levels. However, without reliable source identification, the origin of this decades old problem has been uncertain. Here, we target radiocesium contamination in wild boars from Bavaria. Our samples (2019-2021) range from 370 to 15,000 Bq·kg-1137Cs, thus exceeding the regulatory limits (600 Bq·kg-1) by a factor of up to 25. Using an emerging nuclear forensic fingerprint, 135Cs/137Cs, we distinguished various radiocesium source legacies in their source composition. All samples exhibit signatures of mixing of Chornobyl and nuclear weapons fallout, with 135Cs/137Cs ratios ranging from 0.67 to 1.97. Although Chornobyl has been widely believed to be the prime source of 137Cs in wild boars, we find that “old” 137Cs from weapons fallout significantly contributes to the total level (10-68%) in those specimens that exceeded the regulatory limit. In some cases, weapons-137Cs alone can lead to exceedances of the regulatory limit, especially in samples with a relatively low total 137Cs level. Our findings demonstrate that the superposition of older and newer legacies of 137Cs can vastly surpass the impact of any singular yet dominant source and thus highlight the critical role of historical releases of 137Cs in current environmental pollution challenges.
AB - Radionuclides released from nuclear accidents or explosions pose long-term threats to ecosystem health. A prominent example is wild boar contamination in central Europe, which is notorious for its persistently high 137Cs levels. However, without reliable source identification, the origin of this decades old problem has been uncertain. Here, we target radiocesium contamination in wild boars from Bavaria. Our samples (2019-2021) range from 370 to 15,000 Bq·kg-1137Cs, thus exceeding the regulatory limits (600 Bq·kg-1) by a factor of up to 25. Using an emerging nuclear forensic fingerprint, 135Cs/137Cs, we distinguished various radiocesium source legacies in their source composition. All samples exhibit signatures of mixing of Chornobyl and nuclear weapons fallout, with 135Cs/137Cs ratios ranging from 0.67 to 1.97. Although Chornobyl has been widely believed to be the prime source of 137Cs in wild boars, we find that “old” 137Cs from weapons fallout significantly contributes to the total level (10-68%) in those specimens that exceeded the regulatory limit. In some cases, weapons-137Cs alone can lead to exceedances of the regulatory limit, especially in samples with a relatively low total 137Cs level. Our findings demonstrate that the superposition of older and newer legacies of 137Cs can vastly surpass the impact of any singular yet dominant source and thus highlight the critical role of historical releases of 137Cs in current environmental pollution challenges.
KW - cesium isotopes
KW - contaminant persistence
KW - environmental radioactivity
KW - nuclear forensics
KW - wild boar
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85170717333&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.3c03565
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.3c03565
M3 - Article
C2 - 37646445
AN - SCOPUS:85170717333
VL - 57
SP - 13601
EP - 13611
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
SN - 0013-936X
IS - 36
ER -