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Title: Assessment of radionuclides (uranium and thorium) atmospheric pollution around Manjung district, Perak using moss as bio-indicator

Journal Article · · AIP Conference Proceedings
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4940105· OSTI ID:22494557
; ;  [1];  [1]
  1. Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450, Shah Alam Selangor (Malaysia)

Bio-monitoring method using mosses have been widely done around the world and the effectiveness has been approved. Mosses can be used to assess the levels of atmospheric pollution as mosses pick up nutrients from the atmosphere and deposition retaining many trace elements. In this study, the deposition of two radionuclides; uranium (U) and thorium (Th) around Manjung districts have been evaluated using Leucobryum aduncum as bio-monitoring medium. The samples were collected from 24 sampling sites covering up to 40 km radius to the North, North-East and South-East directions from Teluk Rubiah. The concentrations of U and Th in moss samples were analysed using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Spectrometer. The concentrations of Th are in the range of 0.07-2.09 mg/kg. Meanwhile, the concentrations of U in the moss are in the range of 0.03-0.18 mg/kg. The Enrichment Factor (EF) was calculated to determine the origin of the radionuclides distributions. Other than that, the distribution maps were developed to observe the distribution of the radionuclides around the study area.

OSTI ID:
22494557
Journal Information:
AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1704, Issue 1; Conference: iNuSTEC2015: International muclear science, technology and engineering conference 2015, Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia), 17-19 Aug 2015; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English