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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Pollution
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1377411
This article is part of the Research Topic Impacts of Emerging Contaminants and Their Ecotoxicological Consequences View all 9 articles

A study on the transfer of radionuclides and of the resulting radiation dose assessment for marine organisms on the eastern coast of Yantai city

Provisionally accepted
Ni Jialin Ni Jialin 1*Dongjun Chen Dongjun Chen 2Zhen Qian Zhen Qian 2Jing Lin Jing Lin 3Feng Lin Feng Lin 3Jianda Ji Jianda Ji 3Dekun Huang Dekun Huang 3Tao Yu Tao Yu 3
  • 1 Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, China
  • 2 Radiation Environment Supervision Station of Fujian Province, Fuzhou, China
  • 3 Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, PRC, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Oceans are repositories of radionuclides. Radionuclides are transferred through the food chain and cause ionizing radiation hazards for marine organisms. In this study, the transfer characteristics of 226 Ra, 40 K, 14 C, 3 H, 137 Cs and 90 Sr in organisms at different trophic levels in the eastern coast of Yantai city were investigated. The risk of ionizing radiation to organisms was assessed using the ERICA Tool 2.0. The results show no significant changes in the concentration of any of the nuclides in the coastal area compared to the preoperation period of the nuclear power plant. The transfer factor of 137 Cs, 40 K, 226 Ra, 14 C, 90 Sr and 3 H at the different trophic levels of marine organisms were 2.09, 1.29, 1.17, 1.15, 1.06 and 0.74, respectively. The dose rates of ionizing radiation to organisms from six radionuclides ranged from 32.02 nGy•h -1 to 195.49 nGy•h -1 and had a mean value of 102.86 ± 57.30 nGy•h -1 . The main artificial radionuclides ( 14 C, 3 H, 90 Sr, 137 Cs) released by nuclear power plants in the study area produced negligible radiation doses to marine organisms. However, other artificial radionuclides present in the effluents of nuclear power plants ( 99 Tc, 110m Ag and 131 I) as well as other natural radionuclides (includes 210 Po, 210 Pb, etc) were not included, and further evaluation of these is recommended.

    Keywords: radionuclides, Amplification effects, Biotrophic level, Ionizing radiation, ERICA Tool

    Received: 27 Jan 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jialin, Chen, Qian, Lin, Lin, Ji, Huang and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ni Jialin, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, China

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