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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 5, Issue 2 (Suppl)
Occup Med Health Aff, an open access journal
ISSN: 2329-6879
Environmental Health 2017
September 7-8, 2017
September 7-8, 2017 | Paris, France
Environmental Health & Global Climate Change
2
nd
International Conference on
ANIGNOREDHAZARDOUSSUBSTANCEINCORALREEFS:ARTIFICIALRADIONUCLIDES
Wuhui Lin
a
and
Fangfang Deng
b
a
Guangxi University, China
b
Institute of Oceanography, China
A
rtificial radionuclides, one of most concerned hazardous materials, are widely measured in various environmental
matrixes and are recognized as a significant proxy of the “Anthropocene”. Artificial radionuclides are mainly released
from the nuclear power plants in the routine and accidental condition in the contemporary ocean. Recently, some coastal
nuclear power plants are located near the coral reef region in Southeast Asia. Coral reefs are one of vital marine ecosystems
and are characterized by high biodiversity and ecosystem services. Although marine biotas in marine ecosystem of coral reefs
will receive additional radiation dose from artificial radionuclides, artificial radionuclides in the reef-building coral are rarely
reported around the world. In our study, two most common artificial radionuclides, 90Sr and
137
Cs, were simultaneously
measured for the first time in the reef-building coral in the South China Sea. The activity of
137
Cs was lower than the limit of
detection (0.2 Bq/kg) of the High Purified Germanium γ Spectrometry in all reef-building coral skeleton. By contrast, the
activity of
90
Sr ranged from 0.97 Bq/kg to 1.58 Bq/kg with a mean value of 1.21 Bq/kg, which was significantly higher than
90
Sr activities in sediment and other biotas. Therefore, the fingerprint of
137
Cs/
90
Sr activity ratio of coral skeleton (<0.17) is
greatly distinct from that of other environment matrixes, such as that of seawater and sediments (1.5). The mechanism of
the abnormal activities and ratio of artificial radionuclides in coral skeleton is illustrated by the “Concentration Factor-Based
Skeleton Model”. Our model may also shed new light for heavy metal and trace elements in coral reefs. Artificial radionuclides
in coral reefs should be paid more attention, especially for the future operation of floated nuclear reactors on the surface ocean
and the coastal nuclear power plants near coral reefs.
Occup Med Health Aff 2017, 5:2(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2329-6879-C1-032