title: Tracking legacy radionuclides in St. Louis, Missouri, via unsupported (210)Pb.
abstract: Analysis of 287 soil, sediment and house dust samples collected in a 200 km(2)-zone in northern St. Louis County, Missouri, establish that offsite migration of radiological contaminants from Manhattan Project-era uranium processing wastes has occurred in this populated area. Specifically, 48% of samples (111 of a subset of 229 soils and sediments tested) had (210)Pb concentrations above the risk-based soil cleanup limits for residential farming established by the US Department of Energy at the Fernald, OH, uranium plant, which handled and stored the same concentrated Manhattan Project-era wastes; the geographical distribution of the exceedances are consistent with water and radon gas releases from a landfill and related sites used to store and dispose of legacy uranium wastes; and offsite soil and house dust samples proximal to the landfill showed distinctive secular disequilibrium among uranium and its progeny indicative of uranium ore processing wastes. The secular disequilibrium of uranium progeny in the environment provides an important method for distinguishing natural uranium from industrial uranium wastes. In this study, the detection of unsupported (210)Pb beyond expected atmospheric deposition rates is examined as a possible indicator of excessive radon emissions from buried uranium and radium-containing wastes.
authors.affiliation: Boston Chemical Data Corp., 2 Summer Street, Suite 14, Natick, MA 01760, USA. Electronic address: marco@bostonchemicaldata.com.
authors.forename: Marco P J
authors.initials: MPJ
authors.lastname: Kaltofen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Policy Studies, 1112 16th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA. Electronic address: bob@ips-dc.org.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: 1515 ½, Kyle Street, Eaton Rapids, MI 48827, USA. Electronic address: lhixson@environserve.com.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hixson
mesh_terms: D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis; D007856:Lead Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D008923:Missouri; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D007220:Industrial Waste; D007856:Lead Radioisotopes; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium
keywords: Radium; Radon; Unsupported lead; Uranium; Waste