Assimilation and transport of organic bound tritium in an irrigated pine forest

The speciation of radioactive tritium (T) in a naturally-established subtropical loblolly pine forest that has been irrigated with highly-contaminated pond water for the last 20 years is reported. This irrigation project was created to limit the underground transport of a tritium-rich plume which al...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science--processes & impacts 2019-06, Vol.21 (6), p.938-949
Main Authors: Duff, Martine C, Kuhne, Wendy W, Viner, Brian, Swindle, Ashlee, Houk, Amanda L, Chiswell, Steven, Hunter, Douglas B, Rivera, Omar E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accumulation
Bioaccumulation
Biota
Carbon 14
Coniferous forests
Cores
Flooded areas
Forests
Growth rings
Irrigation
Irrigation water
Levels
Metals
Pine trees
Ponds
Radioisotopes
Speciation
Tissues
Transport
Tritium
Underground waste disposal
Water pollution
Wood
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Summary:The speciation of radioactive tritium (T) in a naturally-established subtropical loblolly pine forest that has been irrigated with highly-contaminated pond water for the last 20 years is reported. This irrigation project was created to limit the underground transport of a tritium-rich plume which also contains low levels of toxic organics, metals and radionuclides such as carbon-14 ( 14 C) from a nearby low-level waste burial ground. The levels of tritiated water (HTO) in the wood cores were not influenced by recent irrigation activities. However, the tritium levels in the last 20 years of tree growth were more than 3-fold higher than that of tritium in the older growth. This was due to recent irrigation with organic-bound tritium (OBT)-rich water and subsequent accumulation of high levels tritium as OBT relative to tissue HTO. High levels of pond irrigation water OBT resulted from biogenic processes that converted HTO to OBT. Data for 14 C that were acquired for some of the forest materials indicated that the processes controlling the movement and accumulation of 14 C in this system are somewhat different than that of tritium. Spectroscopic characterization of tree core tissue of
ISSN:2050-7887
2050-7895
DOI:10.1039/c9em00165d