Modelling and mitigating dose to firefighters from inhalation of radionuclides in wildland fire smoke

Viner, Brian J.; Jannik, Tim; Stone, Daniel; Hepworth, Allan; Naeher, Luke; Adetona, Olorunfemi; Blake, John; Eddy, Teresa

doi:10.1071/WF14181

Title: Modelling and mitigating dose to firefighters from inhalation of radionuclides in wildland fire smoke

Journal Article · Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · International Journal of Wildland Fire

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1071/WF14181· OSTI ID:1215497

Viner, Brian J. ^[1]; Jannik, Tim ^[1]; Stone, Daniel ^[1]; Hepworth, Allan ^[2]; Naeher, Luke ^[3]; Adetona, Olorunfemi ^[3]; Blake, John ^[2]; Eddy, Teresa ^[4]

Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)
USDA Forest Service, New Ellenton, SC (United States)
Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, Aiken, SC (United States)

Firefighters responding to wildland fires where surface litter and vegetation contain radiological contamination will receive a radiological dose by inhaling resuspended radioactive material in the smoke. This may increase their lifetime risk of contracting certain types of cancer. Using published data, we modelled hypothetical radionuclide emissions, dispersion and dose for 70th and 97th percentile environmental conditions and for average and high fuel loads at the Savannah River Site. We predicted downwind concentration and potential dose to firefighters for radionuclides of interest (¹³⁷Cs, ²³⁸Pu, ⁹⁰Sr and ²¹⁰Po). Predicted concentrations exceeded dose guidelines in the base case scenario emissions of 1.0 x 10⁷Bq ha^-1 for ²³⁸Pu at 70th percentile environmental conditions and average fuel load levels for both 4- and 14-h shifts. Under 97th percentile environmental conditions and high fuel loads, dose guidelines were exceeded for several reported cases for ⁹⁰Sr, ²³⁸Pu and ²¹⁰Po. The potential for exceeding dose guidelines was mitigated by including plume rise (>2ms^-1) or moving a small distance from the fire owing to large concentration gradients near the edge of the fire. This approach can quickly estimate potential dose from airborne radionuclides in wildland fire and assist decision-making to reduce firefighter exposure.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); USDA Forest Service-Savannah River, New Ellenton, SC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security (AU), Office of Security

Grant/Contract Number:: AC09-08SR22470; AI09-00SR22188

OSTI ID:: 1215497

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1222745; OSTI ID: 1233733

Report Number(s):: SRNL-STI-2014-00469; USDA-15-11-P; SRNS-STI-2015-00238; PII: WF14181

Journal Information:: International Journal of Wildland Fire, Vol. 24, Issue 5; ISSN 1049-8001

Publisher:: International Association of Wildland FireCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 4 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (29)

Modeling Smoke Plume-Rise and Dispersion from Southern United States Prescribed Burns with Daysmoke Achtemeier, Gary L.; Goodrick, Scott A.; Liu, Yongqiang Atmosphere, Vol. 2, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos2030358	journal	August 2011
Personal PM _2.5 Exposure Among Wildland Firefighters Working at Prescribed Forest Burns in Southeastern United States Adetona, Olorunfemi; Dunn, Kevin; Hall, Daniel B. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, Vol. 8, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2011.595257	journal	August 2011
Emission factors for open and domestic biomass burning for use in atmospheric models Akagi, S. K.; Yokelson, R. J.; Wiedinmyer, C. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 11, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-4039-2011	journal	January 2011
Burning radionuclide question: What happens to iodine, cesium and chlorine in biomass fires? Amiro, B. D.; Sheppard, S. C.; Johnston, F. L. Science of The Total Environment, Vol. 187, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(96)05125-X	journal	August 1996
Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning Andreae, M. O.; Merlet, P. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 15, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GB001382	journal	December 2001
Fire and soil-plant nutrient relations in a pine-wiregrass savanna on the coastal plain of North Carolina Christensen, Norman L. Oecologia, Vol. 31, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00348706	journal	January 1977
Radioactivity in smoke particulates from prescribed burns at the Savannah River Site and at selected southeastern United States forests Commodore, Adwoa A.; Jannik, G. Timothy; Eddy, Teresa P. Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 54 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.01.050	journal	July 2012
Nutrient Losses in Smoke Produced during Heather Burning Evans, C. C.; Allen, S. E. Oikos, Vol. 22, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.2307/3543721	journal	January 1971
Estimating Fuel Consumption for the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina Goodrick, Scott L.; Shea, Dan; Blake, John Southern Journal of Applied Forestry, Vol. 34, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1093/sjaf/34.1.5	journal	February 2010
Wildfire Effects on Nutrient Distribution and Leaching in a Coniferous Ecosystem Grier, Charles C. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Vol. 5, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1139/x75-087	journal	December 1975
The total amounts of radioactively contaminated materials in forests in Fukushima, Japan Hashimoto, Shoji; Ugawa, Shin; Nanko, Kazuki Scientific Reports, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00416	journal	May 2012
Radionuclide activity concentrations in forest surface fuels at the Savannah River Site Hejl, Anna M.; Ottmar, Roger D.; Timothy Jannik, G. Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 115 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.10.058	journal	January 2013
210Po in savanna burning plumes Le Cloarec, M. F.; Ardouin, B.; Cachier, H. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, Vol. 22, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00708184	journal	October 1995
Effects of Fire on Nutrient Movement in a South Carolina Pine Forest Lewis, William M. Ecology, Vol. 55, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.2307/1940362	journal	August 1974
Characterizing wildfire regimes in the United States Malamud, B. D.; Millington, J. D. A.; Perry, G. L. W. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 102, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0500880102	journal	March 2005
Impact of prescribed burning on the nutrient balance of heathlands with particular reference to nitrogen and phosphorus Niemeyer, T.; Niemeyer, M.; Mohamed, A. Applied Vegetation Science, Vol. 8, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-109X.2005.tb00644.x	journal	February 2005
Developing the US Wildland Fire Decision Support System Noonan-Wright, Erin K.; Opperman, Tonja S.; Finney, Mark A. Journal of Combustion, Vol. 2011 https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/168473	journal	January 2011
Resuspension of radionuclides into the atmosphere due to forest fires Paatero, Jussi; Vesterbacka, K.; Makkonen, U. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 282, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0254-9	journal	July 2009
Fire as an agent in redistributing fallout137Cs in the Canadian boreal forest Paliouris, G.; Taylor, H. W.; Wein, R. W. Science of The Total Environment, Vol. 160-161 https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(95)04353-3	journal	January 1995
Effective Half-Life of Caesium-137 in Various Environmental Media at the Savannah River Site Paller, M. H.; Jannik, G. T.; Baker, R. A. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 131 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2013.10.024	journal	May 2014
Effects of overstory composition and prescribed fire on fuel loading across a heterogeneous managed landscape in the southeastern USA Parresol, Bernard R.; Blake, John I.; Thompson, Andrew J. Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 273 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2011.08.003	journal	June 2012
Developing custom fire behavior fuel models from ecologically complex fuel structures for upper Atlantic Coastal Plain forests Parresol, Bernard R.; Scott, Joe H.; Andreu, Anne Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 273 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.01.024	journal	June 2012
Forest Fire as a Factor of Environmental Redistribution of Radionuclides Originating from Chernobyl Accident Pazukhin, E. M.; Borovoi, A. A.; Ogorodnikov, B. I. Radiochemistry, Vol. 46, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1023/B:RACH.0000024626.18850.22	journal	January 2004
Effect of distance, meteorology, and burn attributes on ground-level particulate matter emissions from prescribed fires Pearce, J. L.; Rathbun, S.; Achtemeier, G. Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 56 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.02.056	journal	September 2012
Mechanisms of element transfer to the atmosphere during vegetation fires Raison, R. J.; Khanna, P. K.; Woods, P. V. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Vol. 15, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1139/x85-022	journal	February 1985
Distribution and mean residence time of natural radionuclides in the forest ecosystem Sugihara, S.; Osaki, S.; Baba, T. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 239, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02349067	journal	March 1999
Wildland fire emissions, carbon, and climate: Emission factors Urbanski, Shawn Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 317 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.05.045	journal	April 2014
Comparison of the radiological dose from the Cerro Grande fire to a natural wildfire Volkerding, John M. Environment International, Vol. 29, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-4120(03)00076-X	journal	January 2004
Resuspension and redistribution of radionuclides during grassland and forest fires in the Chernobyl exclusion zone: part I. Fire experiments Yoschenko, V. I.; Kashparov, V. A.; Protsak, V. P. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 86, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2005.08.003	journal	January 2006

Cited By (1)

Potential threat to human health during forest fires in the Belarusian exclusion zone Dvornik, Alexander A.; Dvornik, Alexander M.; Korol, Raisa A. Aerosol Science and Technology, Vol. 52, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2018.1482408	journal	August 2018

Similar Records

Predicted cumulative dose to firefighters and the offsite public from natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in smoke from wildland fires at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina USA

Journal Article · Wed Nov 22 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Journal of Environmental Radioactivity · OSTI ID:1215497

Viner, Brian J.; Jannik, Tim; Hepworth, Allan; +5 more

Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Fight Wildland Fires on the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

Conference · Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2003 · OSTI ID:1215497

Irving, John S

Application of End-Exhaled Breath Monitoring to Assess Carbon Monoxide Exposures of Wildland Firefighters at Prescribed Burns.

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Inhalation Toxicology · OSTI ID:1215497

Dunn, K H; Devaux, I; Stock, A; +1 more

Related Subjects

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
atmospheric dispersion
radioactive dose
radioecology
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.

Title: Modelling and mitigating dose to firefighters from inhalation of radionuclides in wildland fire smoke

Citation Formats

References (29)

Cited By (1)

Similar Records

Related Subjects