Evidence for the preservation of technogenic tritiated organic compounds in an estuarine sedimentary environment

Environmental Science & Technology
Ian W CroudaceJenny E Morris

Abstract

The macrotidal Severn Estuary (southwestern UK) has received a broad range of industrial discharges since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. A more recent anthropogenic input to the estuary has been technogenic tritium (specifically organically bound tritium, OBT). This was derived from a specialized industrial laboratory producing custom radiolabeled compounds for life science research and diagnostic testing from 1980 until 2008. While it was generally acknowledged that the radiological impact of the tritium discharges into the Estuary was small, public concern motivated the company and regulatory agencies to commission several research studies from 1998 to 2005 to better understand their environmental impact. This study examined OBT interaction with estuarine sediment by acquiring a broad range of geochemical and sedimentological data from a suite of sediment cores collected from the northern side of the Estuary. Two important observations are that the OBT compounds are strongly bound to the clay/silt fraction of sediment and that the down-core OBT profiles in intertidal and subtidal sediments are broadly similar to the discharge record. Geochemical and chronometric methods (Cu, Pb and Zn elemental profiles, (210)Pb,...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 24, 2014·Journal of Environmental Radioactivity·Frédérique Eyrolle-BoyerCatherine Cossonnet
Dec 3, 2014·Journal of Environmental Radioactivity·Frédérique Eyrolle-BoyerElisabeth Leclerc
Aug 22, 2013·Journal of Environmental Radioactivity·S B KimP A Davis
Nov 7, 2016·Journal of Environmental Radioactivity·S B KimM Stuart
Jun 11, 2019·Environmental Science. Processes & Impacts·Martine C DuffOmar E Rivera
Sep 5, 2020·Journal of Environmental Radioactivity·A MorereauF Eyrolle
Jun 24, 2018·The Science of the Total Environment·Frédérique EyrolleDavid Mourier

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