Carbon-14 Specific Activity Model Validation for Biota in Wetland Environments
- Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River Laboratories, Chalk River, Ontario K0J 1P0 (Canada)
In many cases, contaminants, such as radionuclides, can show highly localized spatial distributions in natural systems. Therefore, a key question for environmental assessment and monitoring becomes, how can these localized distributions of contaminants in the environment lead to organism exposure, and ultimately, the potential for effects to receptor biota? To address this question, an important first step is to conduct field surveys at sites of interest to map out the spatial distribution and extent of contaminants in areas that are being occupied and utilized by resident receptor biota. Work can then be conducted to establish predictive relationships between contaminant concentrations in biota tissues and those in environmental media with which biota interact, to gain an understanding of how representative ambient contaminant concentrations are of biota exposure. The objectives of this study were: - To conduct a field survey in a wetland ecosystem to characterize the spatial distribution of carbon- 14 ({sup 14}C), a radionuclide with dynamics in natural systems that can be described using a specific activity model; and - To determine whether {sup 14}C concentrations in environmental media reflect those measured in tissues of resident flora and fauna. A detailed field campaign was carried out in summer 2001 to characterize the spatial distribution and areal coverage of {sup 14}C in Duke Swamp, a wetland ecosystem on Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)'s Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site that receives {sup 14}C through releases from an up-gradient Waste Management Area (WMA), primarily through groundwater influx. Sampling of surface vegetation (dominantly comprised of Sphagnum moss) was conducted at a total of 69 locations, with complementary sampling of air, soil, fungi, aerial insects, ground-dwelling insects, amphibians, small mammals and snakes being carried out at a subset of five locations with varying {sup 14}C concentrations. Concentrations of {sup 14}C in resident Duke Swamp biota were compared to levels measured in environmental media (including moss, soil and air) to determine whether concentrations in such media reflect animal exposure, for application in routine environmental monitoring programs on the CRL site. In general, for most types of receptor animals, {sup 14}C specific activities were found to be similar to or less than those measured in air, soil and surface vegetation at all locations sampled, suggesting that in most cases, estimates of {sup 14}C levels in animals could either be realistically or conservatively predicted based on the values measured in environmental media. In the case of fungi, receptor-to-media {sup 14}C specific activity ratios fell between 0.04 and 0.23 relative to air, between 0.03 and 0.70 relative to soil, and between 0.078 and 0.31 relative to moss. Small mammal specific activities also generally fell well below those that would be predicted based on specific activities measured in environmental media, with ratios ranging from 0.11 to 0.36 relative to air, from 0.17 to 0.85 relative to soil and from 0.21 to 0.58 relative to moss. Similar ratios were also established for snakes; however, a notable exception occurred for amphibians, a type of animal that tends to spend relatively more time in aquatic environments than the other species tested. In the case of Duke Swamp amphibians, animal-to-air {sup 14}C specific activity ratios ranged from 0.40 to 2.3, animal-to-soil ratios ranged from 0.81 to 3.4 and animal-to-moss ratios ranged from 1.5 to 2.4. These higher {sup 14}C levels in amphibians relative to the environmental media may be due to increased {sup 14}C exposure of aquatic or amphibious animals that occupy systems receiving inputs via groundwater. In such systems, {sup 14}C is incorporated in aquatic plants and animals, and later transferred to higher predatory species, such as amphibians, that consume them. Therefore, with the exception of amphibians and other aquatic receptor species, it is reasonable to estimate concentrations of {sup 14}C in receptor biota in wetland environments like Duke Swamp at CRL, based on measurements of {sup 14}C in environmental media, including air, soil and surface vegetation. In the case of Duke Swamp amphibians, environmental media concentrations could still be roughly predicted if they are multiplied by a 4-fold correction factor. In addition, our study findings also confirm that in cases where elevated {sup 14}C levels are highly localized, elevated exposures to resident biota are also highly localized. Such information is critical to the development of cost-effective environmental monitoring programs that are protective of nonhuman biota, while reducing the need to capture and euthanize animals during routine monitoring.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, Illinois 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21144255
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: DD and R 2007: ANS Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination, and Reutilization 2007, Chattanooga, TN (United States), 16-19 Sep 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 1 ref; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 2007 ANS Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination, and Reutilization - DD and R 2007, 336 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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