Polonium-210 content of marine shrimp: Variation with biological and environmental factors

• Published in: Marine biology 1981-01, Vol.65 (2), p.165-175
• Main Authors: Cherry, R D, Heyraud, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Caridea; Malacostraca; Marine; Penaeidae
• ISSN: 0025-3162; 1432-1793
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00397082

The concentrations of super(210)Po and super(210)Pb were determined in more than 30 species of marine shrimp. Samples were collected in the years 1977 to 1980; most were from the Mediterranean Sea near Monaco, the remainder from Kuwait, South Africa, USA and Great Britain. The median 210 Po concentration was 8.0 pCi g super(-1) dry in the hepatopancreas; the corresponding super(210)Po: super(210)Pb activity ratios were 77 and 138, respectively. The range of concentrations covered more than two orders of magnitude for both nuclides. The variations in the levels of super(210)Po, in particular, could be related to biological and environmental factors; thus, penaeid shrimp had super(210)Po at median concentrations some three to four times higher than carid shrimp, and there was a steady increase in the median super(210)Po concentration as one moved from estuarine to coastal to pelagic to deep-pelagic species. It is suggested further that the ultimate availability of super(210)Po to the food-chain depends on its form in sea water, and the need for information concerning the degree of organic binding of super(210)Po in natural waters in stressed.