Temporal variations of Be and Pb activity concentrations in the atmospheric aerosols during 2018-2019 in Beijing, China and their correlations with meteorological parameters.

In order to establish a regional database on natural radioactivity, a series of measurements of 713 atmospheric aerosol samples collected on filters over a two-year period (2018-2019) in center of Beijing, northeastern China have been performed to analyze Be and Pb activity concentrations. The mean activity concentrations of Be and Pb were found to be 7.10 ± 2.44 mBq m and 2.93 ± 1.52 mBq m, respectively. Both the radionuclides exhibited strong seasonal variations, with maximum concentration of Be occurring in the spring and that of Pb in the winter. The concentration of both the radionuclides was minimum in the rainy summer. Higher Be concentration in the spring was mainly caused by the stratosphere to troposphere exchange. Higher Pb concentration during winter was maybe attributed to the combustion processes in heating systems and the ingression of continental air masses resulted from winds originating from northwest. The dependence of the activity concentrations of Be and Pb with meteorological parameters such as rainfall, temperature, and humidity was studied through linear correlation analysis. Statistically significant negative correlations were observed between Be and Pb activity concentrations with rainfall, respectively, which suggested that the removal mechanisms of these two radionuclides were similar. Lead-210 showed statistically significant correlations with temperature, humidity and PM. A comparison of the data obtained in the present study for Beijing with the northern hemisphere literature values of Be and Pb in the atmospheric aerosols showed that the values were smaller than the ones observed in the present study. Overall, the study provides an improved understanding of the temporal variability and correlation of Be and Pb concentrations in the atmosphere in center of Beijing, northeastern China.