Tritiated stainless steel (nano)particle release following a nuclear dismantling incident scenario: Significant exposure of freshwater ecosystem benthic zone.

Autor: Slomberg DL; CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ., IRD, INRAE, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France. Electronic address: slomberg@cerege.fr., Auffan M; CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ., IRD, INRAE, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France; Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Duke University, Durham, NC 27707, United States., Payet M; CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France., Carboni A; CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ., IRD, INRAE, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France., Ouaksel A; CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ., IRD, INRAE, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France., Brousset L; CNRS, IRD, IMBE, Aix-Marseille Univ, Avignon Univ., Marseille, France., Angeletti B; CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ., IRD, INRAE, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France., Grisolia C; CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France., Thiéry A; CNRS, IRD, IMBE, Aix-Marseille Univ, Avignon Univ., Marseille, France., Rose J; CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ., IRD, INRAE, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France; Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Duke University, Durham, NC 27707, United States.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of hazardous materials [J Hazard Mater] 2024 Mar 05; Vol. 465, pp. 133093. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Nov 29.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.133093
Abstrakt: Nuclear facilities continue to be developed to help meet global energy demands while reducing fossil fuel use. However, an incident during the dismantling of these facilities could accidentally release tritiated particles (e.g. stainless steel) into the environment. Herein, we investigated the environmental dosimetry, fate, and impact of tritiated stainless steel (nano)particles (1 mg.L -1 particles and 1 MBq.L -1 tritium) using indoor freshwater aquatic mesocosms to mimic a pond ecosystem. The tritium (bio)distribution and particle fate and (bio)transformation were monitored in the different environmental compartments over 4 weeks using beta counting and chemical analysis. Impacts on picoplanktonic and picobenthic communities, and the benthic freshwater snail, Anisus vortex, were assessed as indicators of environmental health. Following contamination, some tritium (∼16%) desorbed into the water column while the particles rapidly settled onto the sediment. After 4 weeks, the particles and the majority of the tritium (>80%) had accumulated in the sediment, indicating a high exposure of the benthic ecological niche. Indeed, the benthic grazers presented significant behavioral changes despite low steel uptake (<0.01%). These results provide knowledge on the potential environmental impacts of incidental tritiated (nano)particles, which will allow for improved hazard and risk management.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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