Al-Masri M S, Al-Karfan K, Khalili H, Hassan M
Department of Protection and Safety, Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, P.O. Box 6091, 17th Nissan Street, Kafer Souseh, Damascus, Syria.
J Environ Radioact. 2006;91(1-2):103-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2006.08.010. Epub 2006 Oct 6.
Speciation of (210)Po and (210)Pb in air particulates of two Syrian phosphate sites with different climate conditions has been studied. The sites are the mines and Tartous port at the Mediterranean Sea. Air filters were collected during September 2000 until February 2002 and extracted chemically using different selective fluids in an attempt to identify the different forms of these two radionuclides. The results have shown that the inorganic and insoluble (210)Po and (210)Pb (attached to silica and soluble in mineral acids) portion was found to be high in both sites and reached a maximum value of 94% and 77% in the mine site and Tartous port site, respectively. In addition, only 24% of (210)Pb in air particulates was found to be associated with organic materials probably produced from the incomplete burning of fuel vehicle and similar activities. Moreover, the (210)Po/(210)Pb activity ratio in air particulates was higher than that in all samples at both sites and varied between 3.85 in November 2000 at Tartous port site and 20 in April 2001 at the mine area. These activity ratios were also higher than the natural levels. The (210)Po/(210)Pb activity ratio was also determined in each portion resulting from the selective extraction and found to be higher than that in most samples. The sources of (210)Po excess in these portions are discussed. Soil suspension, which is common in the dry climate dominant in the area, sea water spray and heating of phosphate ores were considered; polonium is more volatile than the lead compounds at even moderate temperature. Furthermore, variations in the chemical forms of (210)Po and (210)Pb during the year were also investigated. However, the results of this study can also be utilized for dose assessment to phosphate industry workers.
对叙利亚两个气候条件不同的磷酸盐产地空气中颗粒物质中（210）钋和（210）铅的形态进行了研究。这两个产地分别是矿区以及地中海沿岸的塔尔图斯港。于2000年9月至2002年2月期间收集空气过滤器样本，并使用不同的选择性液体进行化学提取，以试图识别这两种放射性核素的不同形态。结果表明，无机且不溶性的（210）钋和（210）铅（附着于二氧化硅且可溶于无机酸）部分在两个产地都含量较高，在矿区和塔尔图斯港产地分别达到最大值94%和77%。此外，发现空气中颗粒物质中只有24%的（210）铅与可能由燃油车辆不完全燃烧及类似活动产生的有机物质有关。而且，空气中颗粒物质中（210）钋/（210）铅活度比在两个产地的所有样本中都较高，在2000年11月塔尔图斯港产地为3.85，在2001年4月矿区为20之间变化。这些活度比也高于自然水平。在选择性提取得到的各部分中也测定了（210）钋/（210）铅活度比，发现其高于大多数样本中的该比值。讨论了这些部分中（210）钋过量的来源。考虑了该地区以干燥气候为主时常见的土壤悬浮、海水喷雾以及磷酸盐矿石加热；即使在适度温度下，钋也比铅化合物更易挥发。此外，还研究了一年中（210）钋和（210）铅化学形态的变化。然而，本研究结果也可用于对磷酸盐行业工人的剂量评估。
