11–16 May 2014
Casino Conference Centre
Europe/Prague timezone

241Pu in seabirds

13 May 2014, 17:15
1h 30m
Gallery (Casino Conference Centre)

Gallery

Casino Conference Centre

Reitenbergerova 4/95, Mari&#225;nsk&#233; L&#225;zn&#283;, Czech Republic <font color=white>
Poster Radionuclides in the Environment, Radioecology Poster Session - Radionuclides in the Environment, Radioecology

Speaker

Ms Karolina Szymanska (Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk)

Description

The paper presents unique data of plutonium 241Pu study in seabirds from northern Eurasia, permanently or temporally living at the southern Baltic Sea coast. Together 10 marine birds species were examined: 3 species of permanently residing at the southern Baltic, 4 species of wintering birds and 3 species of migrating birds; about 150 samples were analyzed. The obtained results indicated plutonium is non-uniformly distributed in organs and tissues of analyzed seabirds. Generally the highest plutonium concentrations were found in the digestion organs and feathers, next in skeleton, and the lowest in muscles. Among analyzed birds the highest 241Pu concentration was found in viscera, its activities in the digestive organs ranged from 9.7±2.5 µBqg-1 ww (13.0% of total 241Pu) in great cormorant (P. carbo) to 228±39 µBqg-1 ww (79.6% of total 241Pu) in velvet scoter (M. fusca). High 241Pu concentrations were also found in liver where ranged from 21±4 µBqg-1 ww in velvet scoter (M. fusca) (2.2% of total 241Pu) to 159±31 µBqg-1 ww in tufted duck (A. fuligula) and feathers where ranged from 15±4 µBqg-1 ww in great cormorant (P. carbo) (11.6% of total 241Pu) to 132±59 µBqg-1 ww (34.2% of total 241Pu) in common eider (S. mollissima). The main source of plutonium in analyzed marine birds was global atmospheric fallout as well as the Chernobyl accident, which was confirmed by plutonium activity ratios of 241Pu/239+240Pu as well as 238Pu/239+240Pu. On the basis of the average 241Pu concentrations in the southern Baltic Sea biocenosis components the plutonium content in marine organisms increases as: seabirds < fish < phytobenthos < phytoplankton < zooplankton < zoobenthos. The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Sciences and Higher Education for the financial support of this work under grant DS/530-8120-D384-14.

Primary author

Dr Dagmara Struminska-Parulska (Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk)

Co-author

Ms Karolina Szymanska (Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk)

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