title: Pre- and post-Chernobyl accident levels of 129I and 137Cs in the Southern Baltic Sea by brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus.
abstract: (129)I is a very long-lived radionuclide (T(1/2) = 15.7 × 10(6) years) that is present in the environment both because of natural and anthropogenic sources. In this work (129)I concentration and (129)I/(127)I ratio have been determined in seaweed Fucus vesiculosus collected in the Southern Baltic Sea during 1982 and 1986 (post-Chernobyl accident). The resulting data were evaluated in terms of (129)I concentrations, (129)I/(127)I and (129)I/(137)Cs ratios. (129)I concentrations were found to be in the order of (0.82-5.89) × 10(9) atoms g(-1) in 1982 and (1.33-38.83) × 10(9) atoms g(-1) in 1986. The (129)I/(127)I ratios ranged from (22.7-87.8) × 10(-10) for seaweed collected in 1982 and from (26.1-305.5) × 10(-10) for seaweed collected in 1986. Also a linear relationship was established for (127)I concentrations in seawater and salinity in this area, enabling the estimation of concentration factors for (127)I in F. vesiculosus. The high levels of (129)I and (129)I/(127)I in the Kattegat and their gradually decreasing trend to the Baltic Sea indicates that the most important contribution to the (129)I inventory in the Baltic Sea area comes from Sellafield and La Hague reprocessing plants. With respect to Chernobyl accident, (129)I concentrations in samples collected in 1986 were not much higher than those expected in less contaminated samples from 1982. This supports the view that the contribution of the Chernobyl accident to (129)I in the Baltic region was not significant.
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA), Avda. Thomas Alva Edison 7, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092 Seville, Spain. jose.gomez@ph.tum.de
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gómez-Guzmán
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Holm
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Enamorado-Báez
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Abril
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pinto-Gómez
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: López-Gutiérrez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García-León
mesh_terms: D001417:Background Radiation; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D044645:Fucus / Q000737:chemistry*; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D013548:Sweden; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive