AMS analysis of iodine-129 in aerosols from Austria

Retrospective measurements of airborne 129Iodine in Austria

“…Comparable to previous findings during 2001, 129 I air concentration followed the pattern of gaseous emission from Sellafield. Peak values of 129 I were also supported by weather data with predominant wind direction from west and north-west during sampling time (Jabbar et al, 2011). However, we found deviations at certain points.…”

“…Weekly samples of the year 2001 were combined to biweekly samples (Jabbar et al, 2011); for the present work on the year 2002, however, weekly samples were processed to have better resolution of short-term fluctuations corresponding to anthropogenic releases. In a few weeks after sampling, the air filters were first measured by a REGe Detector (Canberra GR 2020) to determine 7 Be concentrations.…”

“…The radiochemical method of 129 I has been described somewhere else (Jabbar et al, 2011) so only a brief description is given here. Iodine was extracted from the filter paper in a strong alkaline solution of 0.5 M NaOH and 0.05 M NaHSO 3 .…”

“…As 7 Be is considered a good tracer to study stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange and downward transfer, we compared monthly 129 I concentrations with 7 Be activities (Fig. 3) (Jabbar et al, 2011). Elevated levels of 7 Be seem to be supported by vertical air transport that suppresses 129 I concentration.…”

“…Consequently, up to now little is known about pathways of 129 I and many questions concerning the influence of meteorological conditions, locations of deposition and percentage contribution of gaseous or liquid releases from the European reprocessing plants are still open. To elucidate this problem at least partially, we conducted a study about temporal distribution of 129 I in air in the course of year 2001 and concluded that most 129 I in air particles basically originated from gaseous emissions from the Sellafield reprocessing plant (Jabbar et al, 2011). This has intrigued us to extend the 2001 study to the following year 2002.…”