Measurements of Natural Radionuclides and 137Cs in Airborne Particulate Samples Collected from Bali and Lombok Islands (Indonesia)

S. Syarbaini, W. Wahyudi, G. Suhariyono, D. Gunawan, E. Suharguniyawan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Bali and Lombok islands are popular resorts and tourist destinations in the world because of their culture and beautiful natural view. The natural and anthropogenic radionuclides content in surface air of Bali and Lombok islands such as 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs were measured at 3 monitoring stations in a period from January to December 2016. Aerosol samples were collected using a high volume total suspended particles (TSP) sampler. The activity concentrations of those radionuclides in the airborne particulate matter were measured using gamma-ray spectrometry. The results show that the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K ranged from 1.0 to 3.04 μBq/m3, not detected to 1.78 μBq/m3sup>, and 0.03 to 0.49 mBq/m3sup>, respectively. All the airborne particulate matter filter samples were found to be lower than the minimum detectable activity for 137Cs, which means that none of 137Cs is originated from atmospheric nuclear weapon tests and other sources in the surface air of Bali and Lombok islands. Variations of monthly activity concentrations of natural radionuclides were influenced by rainfall during the study period. Furthermore, the peak concentrations of radionuclides also occur due to volcanic ash coming from the Mount Rinjani eruption.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11-16
Number of pages6
JournalAtom Indonesia
Volume47
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Anthropogenic radionuclides
  • Bali and Lombok islands
  • Natural radionuclides
  • Surface air
  • Total suspended particles

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