210Po in Nevada Groundwater and Its Relation to Gross Alpha Radioactivity

Seiler, Ralph L.

doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2010.00688.x

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…The geological basin where Fallon is located contains natural arsenic, tungsten, and radioactive minerals including uranium and polonium [16,17]. This basin also serves as a hydrologic sink, resulting in wetlands and land suitable for abundant agricultural activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual space-time patterning of the Fallon, Nevada leukemia cluster: Evidence of an infectious etiology

Francis

Selvin

Yang

et al. 2012

Chemico-Biological Interactions

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The town of Fallon within Churchill County, Nevada exhibited an unusually high incidence of childhood leukemia during the years 1997–2003. We examined the temporal and spatial patterning of the leukemia case homes in comparison to the distribution of the general population at risk, other cancer incidence, and features of land use. Leukemia cases were predominantly diagnosed during the early to mid summer, exhibiting a seasonal bias. Leukemia cases lived outside of the “developed/urban” area of Fallon, predominantly in the “agriculture/pasture” region of Churchill County, circumscribing downtown Fallon. This pattern was different from the distribution of the underlying population (p-value < 0.01) and different from the distribution of other cancers, which were evenly distributed when compared to the population (p-value = 0.74). The unusual space-time patterning of childhood leukemia is consistent with the involvement of an infectious disease. A possible mode of transmission for such an infectious disease is by means of a vector, and mosquitoes are abundant in Churchill County outside of the urban area of Fallon. This region harbors a US Navy base, and a temporally concordant increase in military wide childhood leukemia rates suggests the base a possible source of the virus. Taken together, our current understanding of the etiology of childhood leukemia, the rural structure combined with temporal and geospatial patterning of these leukemia cases, and the high degree of population mixing in Fallon, suggest a possible infectious cause.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual space-time patterning of the Fallon, Nevada leukemia cluster: Evidence of an infectious etiology

Francis

Selvin

Yang

et al. 2012

Chemico-Biological Interactions

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“…In wells in Florida, Maryland, and Nevada, aqueous 210 Pb concentrations were much less than 210 Po concentrations (Harada et al 1989; Outola et al 2008; Seiler 2011), indicating that the 210 Po was being mobilized from the sediments. Aqueous 210 Po concentrations were the same as 210 Pb concentrations in the Finnish wells (Seiler et al 2011)—a finding that indicates secular equilibrium between the two radioisotopes and that the 210 Po was derived from the decay of 210 Pb in the water.…”

Section: Environmental Behavior Of 210pomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…210 Po activities in private wells in Lahontan Valley, Nevada, were measured at levels as high as 6.59 Bq/L (Seiler 2011), and these private wells serve hundreds to thousands of people in areas where 210 Po commonly exceeds 0.5 Bq/L. In one well, the 210 Po activity was stable in measurements made six half-lives (830 days) apart (Seiler 2012), which suggests users of contaminated wells in Lahontan Valley have been exposed to 210 Po since the wells were drilled.…”

Section: Direct and Indirect Ingestion Of 210pomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the 60 private wells and 3 public supply wells sampled in the valley (Seiler 2011), more than one-third of the private wells had 210 Po levels exceeding 0.55 Bq/L, and 10% had levels that exceeded 2 Bq/L. This level is extremely unusual—fewer than 100 wells in the United States have reported 210 Po activities that exceed 0.55 Bq/L, and the maximum value measured in Lahontan Valley, 6.59 Bq/L, is the fourth highest value reported in the United States (Seiler 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Occurrence of ²¹⁰ Po and Biological Effects of Low-Level Exposure: The Need for Research

Seiler

2012

Environ Health Perspect

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Background: Polonium-210 (210Po) concentrations that exceed 1 Bq/L in drinking-water supplies have been reported from four widely separated U.S. states where exposure to it went unnoticed for decades. The radionuclide grandparents of 210Po are common in sediments, and segments of the public may be chronically exposed to low levels of 210Po in drinking water or in food products from animals raised in contaminated areas.Objectives: We summarized information on the environmental behavior, biokinetics, and toxicology of 210Po and identified the need for future research.Methods: Potential linkages between environmental exposure to 210Po and human health effects were identified in a literature review.Discussion: 210Po accumulates in the ovaries where it kills primary oocytes at low doses. Because of its radiosensitivity and tendency to concentrate 210Po, the ovary may be the critical organ in determining the lowest injurious dose for 210Po. 210Po also accumulates in the yolk sac of the embryo and in the fetal and placental tissues. Low-level exposure to 210Po may have subtle, long-term biological effects because of its tropism towards reproductive and embryonic and fetal tissues where exposure to a single alpha particle may kill or damage critical cells. 210Po is present in cigarettes and maternal smoking has several effects that appear consistent with the toxicology of 210Po.Conclusions: Much of the important biological and toxicological research on 210Po is more than four decades old. New research is needed to evaluate environmental exposure to 210Po and the biological effects of low-dose exposure to it so that public health officials can develop appropriate mitigation measures where necessary.

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“…HNO 3 -16 M) followed, in which the sample (100 ml) is digested, extracted in 0.5 M HCl (5 ml twice) [3], and a silver disk is suspended in the sample solution for about 2-3 h for optimum autodeposition. Ascorbic acid (200 mg) is added to the solution in order to reduce iron and minimize interference during auto-deposition [25]. The concentration of iron in river water is 0.3 mg/l [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of ²¹⁰Po estimation in environmental samples using an improved deposition unit

Dubey¹,

Sahoo²,

Mohapatra³

et al. 2015

Radiochimica Acta

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Measurement of 210 Po in environmental matrices is important due to its very high specific activity, present in every compartment of the environment due to a daughter product of uranium ( 238 U), accumulative and highly toxic in nature. Conventional method for 210 Po estimation is by auto-deposition onto both sides of a silver disc followed by alpha spectrometry of both the sides. A new deposition unit having the facility to hold the silver disc and magnetic stirring bar has designed and fabricated for 210 Po estimation in which only one side is counted. In the conventional method, the total activity is distributed to the both sides of the silver disc and more counting time is required whereas in the improved deposition unit, only one side contain all the activity so that one time counting is required with better statistical significance. The same has been observed in spike recovery and water sample assessment. The tracer recovery in the conventional method was 72%-88% and 70%-85% whereas for the new deposition the recovery is 87%-99% and 78%-94% for spike recovery study and environmental samples, respectively. Certified tracers were analysed for the assurance of the reliability of the method and the results were in good agreement with the recommended value with a relative error <20%. The MDA of the method is 1.5 mBq for the estimation of 210 Po at 3 confidence level, 86 400 s. counting time and 100 ml of water sample, taking the detector efficiency and chemical yield into consideration. The results obtained from both the methods were compared statistically. 2 test, repeatability parameters, relative bias measurement and linearity test was performed for both the methods. The % difference between the two methods in terms of linearity is 0.2%. From the 2 test it can be concluded that the measured data by two methods falls within 99% confidence interval. The modified deposition unit enhance the statistical significance, reduce the counting time, improved detection level, accuracy and precision and more suitable for determination of 210 Po in environmental samples as the levels in various environmental matrices is very low and close to the method detection level.

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210Po in Nevada Groundwater and Its Relation to Gross Alpha Radioactivity

Cited by 27 publications

References 28 publications

Unusual space-time patterning of the Fallon, Nevada leukemia cluster: Evidence of an infectious etiology

Unusual space-time patterning of the Fallon, Nevada leukemia cluster: Evidence of an infectious etiology

Occurrence of ²¹⁰ Po and Biological Effects of Low-Level Exposure: The Need for Research

Optimization of ²¹⁰Po estimation in environmental samples using an improved deposition unit

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210Po in Nevada Groundwater and Its Relation to Gross Alpha Radioactivity

Cited by 27 publications

References 28 publications

Unusual space-time patterning of the Fallon, Nevada leukemia cluster: Evidence of an infectious etiology

Unusual space-time patterning of the Fallon, Nevada leukemia cluster: Evidence of an infectious etiology

Occurrence of 210 Po and Biological Effects of Low-Level Exposure: The Need for Research

Optimization of 210Po estimation in environmental samples using an improved deposition unit

Contact Info

Product

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Occurrence of ²¹⁰ Po and Biological Effects of Low-Level Exposure: The Need for Research

Optimization of ²¹⁰Po estimation in environmental samples using an improved deposition unit