137Cs activity concentration in soil of Alagoas State, Brazil

Rogério de Andrade Filgueiras; Ricardo Washington Dutra Garcêz; Leandro Barbosa da Silva; José Marques Lopes; Fernando Carlos Araujo Ribeiro; Eduardo Paim Viglio; Ademir Xavier da Silva

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109607

¹³⁷Cs activity concentration in soil of Alagoas State, Brazil

Appl Radiat Isot. 2021 Apr:170:109607. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109607. Epub 2021 Jan 24.

Authors

Rogério de Andrade Filgueiras¹, Ricardo Washington Dutra Garcêz², Leandro Barbosa da Silva¹, José Marques Lopes³, Fernando Carlos Araujo Ribeiro⁴, Eduardo Paim Viglio⁵, Ademir Xavier da Silva⁶

Affiliations

¹ Nuclear Engineering Program, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
² Nuclear Engineering Program, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Earth and Environmental Physics Department, Physics Institute, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil; Postgraduate Program in Geochemistry: Petroleum and Environment (POSPETRO), Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
⁴ Institute of Radioprotection and Dosimetry, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
⁵ Geological Survey of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁶ Nuclear Engineering Program, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Polytechnic School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

PMID: 33529991
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109607

Abstract

Cesium 137 is present in worldwide. To evaluate its deposition in the Brazilian state of Alagoas a total of 41 samples were collected by the Geological Survey of Brazil, then processed and analyzed by gamma-ray spectrometry with hyperpure germanium detectors. The activity concentration varied from (0.3 ± 0.1) Bq/kg to (1.1 ± 0.4) Bq/kg. The present study shows that the Borborema Plateau acts as a natural barrier to rainfall, favoring the deposition of ¹³⁷Cs on the local soil.

Keywords: (137)Cs; Activity concentration; HPGe; Soil.

MeSH terms

Brazil
Cesium Radioisotopes / analysis*
Geology
Radiation Monitoring / methods
Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*

Substances

Cesium Radioisotopes
Soil Pollutants, Radioactive
Cesium-137