https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-00884-8
Regular Article
An assessment on levels of radionuclides and trace metals and radiological risk to marine biota in the North-Eastern Mediterranean Sea
1
Faculty of Fisheries, University of Akdeniz, 07058, Antalya, Turkey
2
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ankara, Turkey
3
Bati Akdeniz Agricultural Research Institute, Antalya, Turkey
4
Mediterranean Fisheries Research, Production and Training Institute, Antalya, Turkey
5
Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Antalya, Turkey
6
Faculty of Science, University of Akdeniz, 07058, Antalya, Turkey
7
Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
8
Turkish Accelerator and Research Laboratory, 06830, Ankara, Turkey
Received:
18
August
2022
Accepted:
15
May
2023
Published online:
31
May
2023
Artificially produced radionuclides by nuclear reactions are the second type available in the marine environment, in addition to the radionuclides originating from natural sources. Natural radionuclides have been introduced into the environment by several paths of which were unpredictable compared to the anthropogenic activities performed in a controlled manner such as nuclear weapon testing and nuclear fuel reprocessing activities. One major path for radionuclide accumulation to the marine environment from unpredictable sources known to be the river runoffs which transfers the radionuclides deposited over land. In the present study natural—artificial radionuclide activity (226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs) and trace metal concentrations (Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, K, Ca, Mg and Na) in the coastal areas of north-eastern Mediterranean Sea, and the radiological risk to marine biota (fish and invertebrate species) were investigated. Individuals of seven species belonging to two biota groups were analyzed to evaluate the radionuclide activity levels. Highest activity levels of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were detected for Mullus barbatus (8.6 ± 0.8 Bq kg−1), Charybdis longicollis (5.3 ± 0.4 Bq kg−1) and Pagellus acarne (95.7 ± 6 Bq kg−1) respectively. Highest total dose rate for all evaluated radionuclides was 12.6 nGy h−1. 226Ra and 40K were the two radionuclides with highest contribution to the total dose rate. Our results indicated that there is no radiological risk in the study area. Charybdis longicollis samples were detected to be rich in Mn, Zn and Ca.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-00884-8.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
