Transfer factors of ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po from NORM-contaminated oilfield soil to some Atriplex species, Alfalfa and Bermuda grass

Department of Protection and Safety, Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, Damascus, P.O. Box 6091, Syria.

^a e-mail: prscientific@aec.org.sy

Received: 13 August 2012
Accepted: 29 April 2013

Abstract

Transfer factors of ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po from soil contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in oilfields to some grazing plants were determined using pot experiments. Contaminated soil was collected from a dry surface evaporation pit from a Syrian oilfield in the Der Ezzor area. Five types of plants (Atriplex halimus L., Atriplex canescens, Atriplex Leucoclada Bioss, Alfalfa and Bermuda grass) were grown and harvested three times over two years. The results show that the mean transfer factors of ²²⁶Ra from the contaminated soil to the studied plant species were 1.6 × 10^-3 for Atriplex halimus L., 2.1 × 10^-3 for Atriplex canescens, 2.5 × 10^-3 for Atriplex Leucoclada Bioss, 8.2 × 10^-3 for Bermuda grass, and the highest value was 1.7 × 10^-2 for Alfalfa. Transfer factors of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po were higher than ²²⁶Ra TFs by one order of magnitude and reached 7 × 10^-3, 1.1 × 10^-2, 1.2 × 10^-2, 3.2 × 10^-2 and 2.5 × 10^-2 for Atriplex halimus, Atriplex canescens, Atriplex Leucoclada Bioss, Bermuda grass and Alfalfa, respectively. The results can be considered as base values for transfer factors of ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in semiarid regions.