Calculating the radiological parameters used in non-human biota dose assessment tools using ERICA Tool and site-specific data

• Published in: Radiation and environmental biophysics Vol. 56; no. 4; pp. 443 - 451
• Main Authors: Sotiropoulou, Maria, Florou, Heleny, Kitis, Georgios
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Animals; Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Biota; Biota - radiation effects; Cesium; Dosage; Ecosystems; Effects of Radiation/Radiation Protection; Environmental Physics; Mathematical analysis; Measurement; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Organisms; Original Article; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Process parameters; Radiation Monitoring - methods; Radioactivity; Radiobiology; Radioisotopes; Radiology; Radium; Soil; Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; Terrestrial ecosystems; Thorium; Terrestrial ecosystem; Radionuclide transfer; Non-human biota; Radioactivity measurements; Dose rate
• ISSN: 0301-634X; 1432-2099
• DOI: 10.1007/s00411-017-0703-8

The substantial complexity in ecosystem–radionuclide interactions is difficult to be represented in terms of radiological doses. Thus, radiological dose assessment tools use typical exposure situations for generalized organisms and ecosystems. In the present study, site-specific data and radioactivity measurements of terrestrial organisms (grass and herbivore mammals) and abiotic components (soil) are provided. The retrieved data are used in combination with the ERICA Assessment Tool for calculation of radiological parameters. The process of radionuclide transfer within ecosystem components is represented using concentration ratios (CRs), while for the calculation of dose rates the dose conversion coefficient (DCC) methodology is applied. Comparative assessments are performed between the generic and assessment-specific radiological parameters and between the resulting dose rates. Significant differences were observed between CRs calculated in this study and those reported in the literature for cesium and thorium, which can easily be explained. On the other hand, CRs calculated for radium are in very good agreement with those reported in the literature. The DCCs exhibited some small differences between the reference and the assessment-specific organism due to mass differences. The differences were observed for internal and external dose rates, but they were less pronounced for total dose rates which are typically used in the assessment of radiological impact. The results of the current work can serve as a basis for further studies of the radiological parameters in environments that have not been studied yet.