Migration of radium from the thorium ore deposit of Morro do Ferro, Poços de Caldas, Brazil

Campos, M.J.; Penna-Franca, E.; Lobao, N.; Trindade, H.; Sachett, I.

doi:10.1016/0265-931x(86)90033-0

Cited by 16 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The Morro do Ferro (Mountain of Iron) is a small (140 m height) and deeply weathered hill at the center of the plateau containing, within 50 m of its surface, about 30,000 mtons of Th (and associated radioactive daughters) and about 100,000 mtons of REEs, predominantly Ce, La and Nd (Wedow 1961;Wedow 1967;Frayha 1962;Lei 1984;Lei et al 1986). Several recent studies have addressed the region's geology and minerology (Barretto and Fujimori 1986), physical and chemical mobilization of the analogue elements (Lei 1984;Eisenbud et al 1984;Lei et al 1986;Campos et al 1986;Miekeley et al 1985), and the ingestion of analogue elements by local farmers (Linsalata et al 1986). …”

Section: Fig 1 Location Of Selected Farms In the Pocos De Caldas Plmentioning

confidence: 98%

An Assessment of Soil-to-plant Concentration Ratios for Some Natural Analogues of the Transuranic Elements

Linsalata¹,

Rs²,

Ford³

et al. 1989

Health Physics

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A field study was conducted in an area of enhanced, natural radioactivity to assess the soil to edible vegetable concentration ratios (CR = concentration in dry vegetable/concentration in dry soil) of 232Th, 230Th, 226Ra, 228Ra, and the light rare earth elements (REE's) La, Ce and Nd. Twenty-nine soil and 42 vegetable samples consisting of relatively equal numbers of seven varieties were obtained from 11 farms on the Pocos de Caldas Plateau in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This region is the site of a major natural analogue study to assess the mobilization and retardation processes affecting Th and the REE's at the Morro do Ferro ore body and U series radionuclides at a nearby open pit U mine. Thorium (IV) serves as a chemical analogue for quadrivalent Pu and the light REE's (III) as chemical analogues for trivalent Am and Cm. The geometric mean CR's (all times 10(-4] decreased as 228Ra (148) greater than 226Ra (76) greater than La (5.4) greater than Nd (3.0) = Ce (2.6) greater than 232Th (0.6), or simply as M (II) greater than M (III) greater than M (IV). These differences may reflect the relative availability of these metals for plant uptake. Significant differences were found in the CR's (for any given analyte) among many of the vegetables sampled. The CR's for the different analytes were also highly correlated. The reasons for the correlations in CR's seen among elements with such diverse chemistries as Ra-REE or Ra-Th are not clear but are apparently related to the essential mineral requirements or mineral status of the different vegetables sampled. This conclusion is based on the significant correlations obtained between the Ca content of the dried vegetables and the CR's for all of the elements studied.

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Section: Fig 1 Location Of Selected Farms In the Pocos De Caldas Plmentioning

confidence: 98%

An Assessment of Soil-to-plant Concentration Ratios for Some Natural Analogues of the Transuranic Elements

Linsalata¹,

Rs²,

Ford³

et al. 1989

Health Physics

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“…Co-precipitation of radium has been reported with the minerals celestite, barite, anhydrite, calcite and dolomite, with carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates in general and in manganese and ferric hydroxides [11,18,[21][22][23]. Radium mobility in sulfate-rich waters is likely to be limited by co-precipitation of the radium in solid solutions with gypsum/anhydrite and jarosite-alunite-type mineral phases [24].…”

Section: Significant Processes Affecting the Transport Of Radium In W...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the potential for radium from luminising activities to migrate in the environment

Baker¹,

Toque²

2005

J. Radiol. Prot.

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During the first half of the twentieth century, radium, mixed with other components, was used to luminise many items, including watches, clocks, dials and meters. On many sites, and in particular MoD sites, luminised instruments and paint were disposed of by burning and burial. This paper presents a review of the potential for radium from such sites to migrate in the environment. The most likely mechanisms of migration of radium from former luminising sites in the UK are surface-water erosion and transport, and the action of animals and people. Plant uptake or rainsplash followed by cropping of the plants is another possible mechanism, but the extent of impact is uncertain. The migration of significant quantities of radium through soils or rocks, or due to landsliding or wind transport, is considered to be of minimal importance to most UK sites. A low pH, high salinity (in particular of group II metals) or reducing groundwater would need to be present for migration through soils/rocks to occur and such conditions are unlikely to be present in most shallow aquifer systems in the UK. To reduce the potential for migration to occur it is recommended that luminising wastes at ground surface are removed or covered, that controls are put in place to limit animal activity and that human entry to former luminising sites is restricted.

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Concentration levels of rare-earth elements and thorium in plants from the Morro do Ferro environment as an indicator for the biological availability of transuranium elements

Miekeley

Casartelli

Dotto

1994

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Articles

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Migration of radium from the thorium ore deposit of Morro do Ferro, Poços de Caldas, Brazil

Cited by 16 publications

References 4 publications

An Assessment of Soil-to-plant Concentration Ratios for Some Natural Analogues of the Transuranic Elements

An Assessment of Soil-to-plant Concentration Ratios for Some Natural Analogues of the Transuranic Elements

A review of the potential for radium from luminising activities to migrate in the environment

Concentration levels of rare-earth elements and thorium in plants from the Morro do Ferro environment as an indicator for the biological availability of transuranium elements

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