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Assessment of tree bark as a biomonitor of anthropogenic thorium and radium contamination

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Abstract

This pilot study investigated tree bark as a potential biomonitor of thorium and radium contamination in the environment, using the former Fernald Feed Materials Production Center (FFMPC) in southwest Ohio as a test case. Tree bark samples collected in the vicinity of the FFMPC have radium and thorium concentrations ~ 8X and ~ 10X background levels, respectively, and exhibit elevated 230Th/232Th relative to background. These results suggest that the tree bark hosts contaminant Th and Ra from the FFMPC, and that these signatures can be used as tracers of anthropogenic actinide contamination in the environment.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Janet and Elliot Baines Professorship awarded to E. Widom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

    Elisabeth Widom & David Kuentz

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  1. Elisabeth Widom
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  2. David Kuentz
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Correspondence to Elisabeth Widom.

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Widom, E., Kuentz, D. Assessment of tree bark as a biomonitor of anthropogenic thorium and radium contamination. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 318, 673–676 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6066-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6066-z

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