Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment
Levels of radioactive contaminants in various Greenland environments have been assessed during 1999-2001. The source of (137)Cs (90)Sr and (239,240)Pu in terrestrial and fresh water environments is mainly global fallout. In addition, the Chernobyl accident gave a small contribution of (137)Cs. Reind...
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ftdtupubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/4201236c-1560-4614-a3b1-8c239b4a16b4 2024-09-09T19:24:39+00:00 Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment Dahlgaard, H. Eriksson, M. Nielsen, S.P. Joensen, H.P. 2004 https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/4201236c-1560-4614-a3b1-8c239b4a16b4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.023 eng eng https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/4201236c-1560-4614-a3b1-8c239b4a16b4 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Dahlgaard , H , Eriksson , M , Nielsen , S P & Joensen , H P 2004 , ' Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment ' , Science of the Total Environment , vol. 331 , no. 1-3 , pp. 53-67 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.023 10-S miljø /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water article 2004 ftdtupubl https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.023 2024-06-18T14:33:53Z Levels of radioactive contaminants in various Greenland environments have been assessed during 1999-2001. The source of (137)Cs (90)Sr and (239,240)Pu in terrestrial and fresh water environments is mainly global fallout. In addition, the Chernobyl accident gave a small contribution of (137)Cs. Reindeer and lamb contain the largest observed (137)Cs concentrations in the terrestrial environment-up to 80 Bq kg(-1) fresh weight have been observed in reindeer. Due to special environmental conditions, (137)Cs is transferred to landlocked Arctic char with extremely high efficiency in South Greenland leading to concentrations up to 100 Bq kg(-1) fresh weight. In these cases very long ecological half-lives are seen. Concentrations of (99)Tc, (137)Cs and (90)Sr in seawater and in marine biota decrease in the order NorthEast Greenland and the coastal East Greenland current> South-West Greenland> Central West Greenland and North-West Greenland> Irmiger Seasimilar toFaroe Islands. The general large-scale oceanic circulation combined with European coastal discharges and previous contamination of the Arctic Ocean causes this. As the same tendency is seen for the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) DDT and PCB in marine biota, it is suggested that long-distance oceanic transport by coastal currents is a significant pathway also for POPs in the Greenland marine environment. The peak (99)Tc discharge from Sellafield 1994-1995 has only been slightly visible in the present survey year 2000. The concentrations are expected to increase in the future, especially in East Greenland. The Bylot Sound at the Thule Airbase (Pituffik) in North-West Greenland was contaminated with plutonium and enriched uranium in a weapons accident in 1968. Biological activity has mixed accident plutonium efficiently into the new sediments resulting in continued high surface sediment concentrations three decades after the accident. Transfer of plutonium to benthic biota is low-and lower than observed in the Irish Sea. This is supposed to be caused ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean East Greenland east greenland current Greenland Pituffik Thule Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit Arctic Arctic Ocean Bylot Sound ENVELOPE(-69.746,-69.746,76.414,76.414) Greenland Pituffik ENVELOPE(-68.679,-68.679,76.545,76.545) Science of The Total Environment 331 1-3 53 67 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit |
op_collection_id |
ftdtupubl |
language |
English |
topic |
10-S miljø /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
spellingShingle |
10-S miljø /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water Dahlgaard, H. Eriksson, M. Nielsen, S.P. Joensen, H.P. Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment |
topic_facet |
10-S miljø /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
description |
Levels of radioactive contaminants in various Greenland environments have been assessed during 1999-2001. The source of (137)Cs (90)Sr and (239,240)Pu in terrestrial and fresh water environments is mainly global fallout. In addition, the Chernobyl accident gave a small contribution of (137)Cs. Reindeer and lamb contain the largest observed (137)Cs concentrations in the terrestrial environment-up to 80 Bq kg(-1) fresh weight have been observed in reindeer. Due to special environmental conditions, (137)Cs is transferred to landlocked Arctic char with extremely high efficiency in South Greenland leading to concentrations up to 100 Bq kg(-1) fresh weight. In these cases very long ecological half-lives are seen. Concentrations of (99)Tc, (137)Cs and (90)Sr in seawater and in marine biota decrease in the order NorthEast Greenland and the coastal East Greenland current> South-West Greenland> Central West Greenland and North-West Greenland> Irmiger Seasimilar toFaroe Islands. The general large-scale oceanic circulation combined with European coastal discharges and previous contamination of the Arctic Ocean causes this. As the same tendency is seen for the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) DDT and PCB in marine biota, it is suggested that long-distance oceanic transport by coastal currents is a significant pathway also for POPs in the Greenland marine environment. The peak (99)Tc discharge from Sellafield 1994-1995 has only been slightly visible in the present survey year 2000. The concentrations are expected to increase in the future, especially in East Greenland. The Bylot Sound at the Thule Airbase (Pituffik) in North-West Greenland was contaminated with plutonium and enriched uranium in a weapons accident in 1968. Biological activity has mixed accident plutonium efficiently into the new sediments resulting in continued high surface sediment concentrations three decades after the accident. Transfer of plutonium to benthic biota is low-and lower than observed in the Irish Sea. This is supposed to be caused ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dahlgaard, H. Eriksson, M. Nielsen, S.P. Joensen, H.P. |
author_facet |
Dahlgaard, H. Eriksson, M. Nielsen, S.P. Joensen, H.P. |
author_sort |
Dahlgaard, H. |
title |
Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment |
title_short |
Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment |
title_full |
Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment |
title_fullStr |
Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment |
title_sort |
levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the greenland environment |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/4201236c-1560-4614-a3b1-8c239b4a16b4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.023 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-69.746,-69.746,76.414,76.414) ENVELOPE(-68.679,-68.679,76.545,76.545) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bylot Sound Greenland Pituffik |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bylot Sound Greenland Pituffik |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean East Greenland east greenland current Greenland Pituffik Thule |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean East Greenland east greenland current Greenland Pituffik Thule |
op_source |
Dahlgaard , H , Eriksson , M , Nielsen , S P & Joensen , H P 2004 , ' Levels and trends of radioactive contaminants in the Greenland environment ' , Science of the Total Environment , vol. 331 , no. 1-3 , pp. 53-67 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.023 |
op_relation |
https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/4201236c-1560-4614-a3b1-8c239b4a16b4 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.023 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
331 |
container_issue |
1-3 |
container_start_page |
53 |
op_container_end_page |
67 |
_version_ |
1809894517201960960 |