Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment
Title: Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment
Author: Henning Dahlgaard, Mats Eriksson, Sven P. Nielsen, Hans Pauli Joensen
Reference: Science of the Total Environment. Sep2004, Vol. 331 Issue 1-3, p53-67. 15p.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.023
Keywords: Caesium-137; Strontium-90; Technetium-99; Plutonium-239-240; Polonium-210; Greenland; Environmental radioactivity
Abstract: Levels of radioactive contaminants in various Greenland environments have been assessed during 1999–2001. The source of 137Cs, 90Sr and 239,240Pu in terrestrial and fresh water environments is mainly global fallout. In addition, the Chernobyl accident gave a small contribution of 137Cs. Reindeer and lamb contain the largest observed 137Cs concentrations in the terrestrial environment—up to 80 Bq kg−1 fresh weight have been observed in reindeer. Due to special environmental conditions, 137Cs is transferred to landlocked Arctic char with extremely high efficiency in South Greenland leading to concentrations up to 100 Bq kg−1 fresh weight. In these cases very long ecological half-lives are seen. Concentrations of 99Tc, 137Cs and 90Sr in seawater and in marine biota decrease in the order North-East Greenland and the coastal East Greenland current>South-West Greenland>Central West Greenland and North-West Greenland>Irmiger Sea∼Faroe Islands. The general large-scale oceanic circulation combined with European coastal discharges and previous contamination of the Arctic Ocean causes this.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969704002025