Characterization of the Natural Organic Matter (NOM) in groundwater contaminated with (60)Co and (137)Cs using ultrafiltration, Solid Phase Extraction and fluorescence analysis.
Spot samples of shallow groundwaters have been taken between the years 2004 and 2010 near a site formerly used for the dispersal of radioactive liquid wastes. Three sampling points, one clean (upstream), and two downstream of the contamination source, were processed by ultrafiltration (5000 Da cut-off) and Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) to determine the association of selected artificial radionuclides ((60)Co, (137)Cs) with Natural Organic Matter (NOM). The last two sampling episodes (2008 and 2010) also benefited from fluorescence analysis to determine the major character of the NOM. The fluorescence signals are reported as humic-like, fulvic-like and protein-like, which are used to characterize the different NOM types. The NOM from the clean site comprised mostly fine material, whereas the colloidal content (retained by ultrafiltration) was higher (e.g., 15-40% of the Total Organic Carbon - TOC). Most of the 137Cs was present in the colloidal fraction, whereas (60)Co was found in the filtered fraction. Fluorescence analysis, on the other hand, indicated a contrasting behavior between the clean and contaminated sites, with a dominance of protein-like material, a feature usually associated with human impacts. Finally, SPE removed almost quantitatively the protein-like material (>90%), whereas it removed a much smaller fraction of the (137)Cs (<28%). This finding indicates that the (137)Cs preferential binding occurs with a fraction other than the protein-like NOM, likely the fulvic-like or humic-like portion.
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd., Sudbury, ON, Canada P3E 2C6. Electronic address: fcaron@laurentian.ca.
François
F
Caron
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd., Sudbury, ON, Canada P3E 2C6. Electronic address: ssiemann@laurentian.ca.
Stefan
S
Siemann
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd., Sudbury, ON, Canada P3E 2C6; Radiological Protection Research and Instrumentation Branch, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Chalk River, ON, Canada K1J 1J0. Electronic address: riopelr@aecl.ca.
Rémi
R
Riopel
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D006812:Humic Substances / Q000032:analysis*; D009864:Ontario; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014462:Ultrafiltration; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D006812:Humic Substances; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive
Cesium-137; Cobalt-60; Colloidal material; Fluorescence; Natural Organic Matter (NOM); Ultrafiltration