Natural radionuclides in the aquatic environment of a phosphogypsum disposal area

Haridasan, P.P.; Paul, A.C.; Desai, Madhukar V. M.

doi:10.1016/s0265-931x(00)00121-1

Cited by 50 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The average 210 Po concentration in the Vistula river and its tributaries is similar in comparison to other analyzed rivers: Kaveri and Citarapuzha in India (Shaheed et al, 1997;Haridasan et al, 2001), Tagues in Portugal (Carvalho, 1997), Kuala Selangor in Malaysia (Theng and Abd Ch. Mohamed, 2005), Orantek in Syria (Othman and Yassine, 1996) and lower in comparison to Odiel and Tinto rivers in Spain (Bolivar et al, 2000).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 61%

Seasonal and spatial variability of 210Po, 238U and 239+240Pu levels in the river catchment area assessed by application of neural-network based classification

Skwarzec

Kabat

Astel

2009

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 61%

Seasonal and spatial variability of 210Po, 238U and 239+240Pu levels in the river catchment area assessed by application of neural-network based classification

Skwarzec

Kabat

Astel

2009

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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“…From the environmental point of view, it is important to highlight that this plant utilises a process that avoids the production of phosphogypsum, one of the main causes of radioactive pollution due to production of phosphate fertilizers (UNSCEAR, 1993;Bolı´var et al, 1995;Haridasan et al, 2001). This considerably simplifies solid and liquid wastes management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this way it is possible to obtain a complex fertilizer e both nitrogenous and phosphatic e and to avoid the production of phosphogypsum, one of the main causes of radioactive pollution in the production of phosphate fertilizers (e.g. UNSCEAR, 1993;Bolı´var et al, 1995;Haridasan et al, 2001).…”

Section: Radionuclide Releases Into the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health and environmental impacts of a fertilizer plant – Part I: Assessment of radioactive pollution

Righi

Lucialli

Bruzzi

2005

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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“…For 226 Ra the mean activity concentration is 20 times higher than the recommended radioactivity drinking water standards for gross-alpha activity (0.1 Bq L->) [4]. Oliveira et al [5] measuring the activity concentration of 226 Ra in drinking water supplies of Sao Paulo State, found concentrations ranging from <2.2 to 235 mBq L 1 ; with four locations presenting 226 Ra activity higher than 0.1 Bq IA Recent papers [6,7,8] are concerned with the potential release of radionuclides from phosphogypsum to the aquatic environment. Burnett and Elzerman [6] found concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 0.2 Bq L-1 for 226 Ra and from 7 to 70 Bq L-' for 210 Pb, in stack fluids in Florida.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of stockpiled phosphogypsum waste in Santos basin, Brazil

2002

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Abstract. Phosphogypsum is a waste produced by the phosphate fertiliser industry. It' s formed by precipitation during wet sulphuric acid processing of phosphate rocks. Although phosphogypsum is mainly calcium sulphate dihydrate, it contains elevated levels of impurities, which originate from the source phosphate rock used in the phosphoric acid production. Among these impurities, radionuclides from U-238 and Th-232 decay series, particularly and Pb-210, are of most concern due to their radiotoxicity. The phosphate fertiliser complex located in Santos Basin, Southwest Brazil, is responsible for the production of approximately 2000 tons of phosphogypsum per day. This phosphogypsum waste is stockpiled and presents a potential threat to the surrounding environment. This study aims to determine the activity concentration of Ra-226, Ra-228, Pb-210 and K-40 in the stockpiled phosphogypsum of the two main local producers. As a complementary study, trace and microelements (Ba, Co, Cr, Fe, Hf, Sb, Sc, Ta, Th, U, and rare earths Ce, Eu, La, Lu, Nd, Sm, Tb and Yb) were also determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Mean activity concentrations of 401+108 Bqkg-', 173±65 Bqkg-1 and 389±106 Bqkg-1 were observed for Ra-226, Ra-228 and Pb-210 for one producer. The results obtained for the second producer were 840±275 Bqkg-1 , 225±32Bqkg-' and 827±276 Bqkg-' for Ra-226, Ra-228 and Pb-210, respectively. Phosphogypsum samples are enriched in rareearths elements, specifically Ce, Eu, La, Nd, Sm, and Tb, and the elements Ba and Ta. The radiochemical and elemental characterisation of the phosphogypsum from industry A and C show that the stacks are quite homogeneous and mainly dependent upon the origin of the phosphatic rock used as raw material. This information is important and necessary for decision making on possible uses of this waste. The radionuclides Ra and Pb, which present high radiotoxicity, although present in the phosphogypsum, are not available for the surrounding environment.

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Natural radionuclides in the aquatic environment of a phosphogypsum disposal area

Cited by 50 publications

References 9 publications

Seasonal and spatial variability of 210Po, 238U and 239+240Pu levels in the river catchment area assessed by application of neural-network based classification

Seasonal and spatial variability of 210Po, 238U and 239+240Pu levels in the river catchment area assessed by application of neural-network based classification

Health and environmental impacts of a fertilizer plant – Part I: Assessment of radioactive pollution

Characterization of stockpiled phosphogypsum waste in Santos basin, Brazil

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