ARTICLE IN PRESS

Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066

www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosenv

Gross alpha, gross beta activities and gamma emitting

radionuclides composition of airborne particulate samples
in an oceanic island
F. Hernández, J. Hernández-Armas, A. Catalán,
J.C. Fernández-Aldecoa, L. Karlsson
Laboratorio de Fı´sica Médica y Radioactividad Ambiental, Departamento de Medicina Fı´sica y Farmacologı́a,
Universidad de La Laguna, 38320 La Laguna, Tenerife, España
Received 29 October 2004; received in revised form 8 March 2005; accepted 25 March 2005

Abstract

The radiometric compositions of airborne particulate samples, collected weekly during a 4 years period (1 January
2000 till 31 December 2003) at a site located 310 m a.s.l. in Tenerife (Canary Islands), are analysed in this paper. To do
this, measurements of gross alpha, gross beta, 7Be, 210Pb, 228Ac, 226Ra, 212Pb, 214Pb, 208Tl, 214Bi, 235U, 40K, 131I and
137
Cs concentrations were carried out in 376 cellulose and polypropylene filters. The time variations of the different
radionuclides concentrations have been discussed in relation with various meteorological factors and the mean values
have been compared to those published in recent literature for other sites located at the same altitude but different
latitudes.
The weekly activities of 7Be correlated linearly with the 210Pb activities (R ¼ 0:59). In disagreement with other
published studies, the 7Be activities did not correlate (R ¼ 0:05) with the temperature and maximum values were not
found during summer season. The gross beta activities showed correlations with the gross alpha (R ¼ 0:72) and 210Pb
activities (R ¼ 0:52), but not with the 7Be (R ¼ 0:16). The anthropogenic radionuclide 131I, emitted from a nearby
hospital, was detected slightly above detection limits (1.73  106 Bq m3) in 88 of the 210 weeks of measurement
considered in this work. 137Cs was detected in 31 of those weeks. The 4-year average calculated for 7Be and 210Pb were 3
and 0.3 mBq m3, respectively. These values are lower than those expected for a site at comparable latitude and altitude.
In general, the radionuclides which appeared most frequently in the airborne particulate filters (7Be, 210Pb, 212Pb and
40
K), did not correlate significantly with any of the meteorological parameters considered: rainfall, temperature,
pressure, relative humidity, visibility, wind speed and direction. Therefore, no predictive model could be established
with the available data as it has been done for continental sites. The long-range transport of aerosols from the Saharan
desert showed to be an important source of 137Cs and 40K in the particulate filters after low-level atmospheric dust
intrusions that reached the island.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Aerosols; Atmospheric radionuclides; Surface air; Saharan dust; Tenerife

Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 922 319422; fax: +34 922 643165.
E-mail address: jharmas@ull.es (J. Hernández-Armas).

1352-2310/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.03.035
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
4058 F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066
1. Introduction
The increasing interest on the role of airborne
particulate matter in regional and global environmental
changes makes radiotracers an important tool for the
spatio-temporal modelling of aerosols. Some authors
(Gründel and Porstendörfer, 2004; Gerasopoulos et al.,
2003; Aldahan et al., 2001; Lujaniene et al., 1999; Dibb
and Jaffrezo, 1993; Balkanski et al., 1993) have
demonstrated the utility that the accurate determination
of very small concentrations of 7Be and 210Pb, as well as
other aerosol radiotracers has in explaining, e.g., long-
range air mass transport, the exchange rate of air
between the stratosphere and the troposphere, aerosol
residence time, cloud formation processes, atmospheric
aerosol scavenging, etc. Although gross alpha and gross
beta measurements are generally made as a means of
‘‘screening’’ for unusual levels of radioactivity, these
measurements are of interest since they allow establish-
ing trends in radionuclide concentrations in the atmo-
sphere and the calculation of aerosol residence times
(Dueñas et al., 1999, 2004; Sheets and Thompson, 1992).
Airborne particulate matter was and is currently being
collected continuously in cellulose and polypropylene
filters in Tenerife as part of a national monitoring
programme coordinated by the Consejo de Seguridad
Nuclear. The different data collected from the radio-
metric measurement performed on these filters during a
4-year period (1 January 2000 till 31 December 2003),
has been used in this paper to calculate the radiotracer
composition of airborne particulate matter at the
surface air. The influence of meteorological parameters
such as rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, pres-
sure, visibility, wind speed and wind direction, which
can influence the concentration of aerosol radiotracers
in the atmosphere, has also been evaluated. In general, it
has been shown (Hotzl and Winkler, 1987; Feely et al.,
1989) that the increment of environmental temperature
correlates with the increment of 7Be in the atmosphere in
continental sites. Various studies have, also, shown some
relation between wet and dry deposition with the
concentration of 210Pb (El-Daoushy, 1988; Rangarajan
and Eapen, 1967). In previously published results (e.g.,
Dueñas et al., 2001), it has been even possible to relate
with mathematical expressions various meteorological
parameters and gross alpha, gross beta and 7Be
concentrations in air.
2. Sampling and method of analysis
Airborne particulate samples were collected weekly at
Tenerife. The island of Tenerife is situated west
(approximately 210 km) from the northern coast of
Africa, between 281180 and 281350 N and between 161070
and 161490 W. The mean climatic features are mild with
uniform temperatures all year round. The lower atmo-
sphere over the Canary Islands is strongly stratified. A
stable temperature inversion is observed at least once
every day of the year (Viana et al., 2002; Rodrı́guez and
Guerra, 2001). This unique situation originates by the
presence of high-pressure zones in the vicinity of the
Azores Archipelago. It is characterised by a lower layer
of oceanic humid air and an upper layer of warm and
dry air. The mean thickness of the inversion layer
reaches a maximum (560 m) during the summers and
minimum (360) between October and January. The
average altitude of the inversion is lowest in summer
(770–1380 m a.s.l.) and highest in winter (1360–1850 m
a.s.l.). The predominant winds in this region are in the
northeast direction. These winds favour the dispersion
of local anthropogenic aerosol sources over the ocean.
Two different aerosol sampling pumps placed 100 m
apart, a Saic Radeco AV-28A and a P.T.I. Sampling
Station ASS-500, were utilised to collect total suspended
particulate (TSP) matter. The sampling stations were
located at 310 m a.s.l. The air flow rates of the two
pumps were set to collect, at normal conditions, 30 and
10,000 l min1 respectively, although these values oscil-
lated from week to week depending on the real atmo-
spheric situation. The smaller pump used circular
cellulose filters (47 mm diameter) and the larger pump
used polypropylene G3-type square filters (440 mm side).
Dust content in the filters was calculated gravimetrically
by weighting the filters before and after exposure under
the same laboratory conditions. The local sources of
anthropogenic aerosols at the sampling sites are limited
to emissions from cars and the smoke from two large
hospitals, which are within a 1 km radius. These fluxes
plus natural sources constitute the environmental radio-
active level at that place.
Gamma measurements were performed with two
coaxial-type germanium detectors (Canberra Industries
Inc., USA). These detectors were calibrated using
certified reference gamma-ray cocktails purchased from
Amersham Industries (Amersham plc. UK), and known
concentrations of chemically pure potassium chloride
(MERCK. E., Germany). These detectors have iron
shields and are placed, together with their associated
electronic units, in a specially conditioned laboratory
with air filters to provide an optimum environment for
low-level gamma measurements. Temperature is kept
constant at all times and the overpressure maintained at
this laboratory minimises the inflow of radon from its
surroundings. Each large aerosol filter sample was
measured twice, the first time on the same day of sample
collection, during 4 h, and the second time 3 days later
and during 96 h. The time delay between the first and the
second measurement allowed for the decay of 222Rn
short-lived daughters. The detectors’ backgrounds were
measured twice per year. The measuring time used was 4
days each time.
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F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066
Spectra analyses and background subtraction were
performed with the Genie2K spectrometry software,
versions 1.4 and 2.0 (Canberra Industries Inc., USA). A
library of radionuclides, which contained the energy of
the characteristic gamma peaks for each nuclide
analysed and their corresponding emission probabilities,
was built from the data supplied in the mentioned
software. The characteristic gamma peaks selected for
the determination of the different radionuclides were:
46.5 keV for 210Pb, 477 keV for 7Be, 364 keV for 131I,
186 keV for 226Ra, 238 keV for 212Pb, 351 keV for 214Pb,
583 keV for 208Tl, 911 and 969 keV for 228Ac, 609 keV
for 214Bi, 144 keV for 235U, 661 keV for 137Cs and
1460 keV for 40K. The 210Pb activities were corrected for
the self-absorption process that occurs in volumetric
samples following the method indicated by Hernández
and El-Daoushy (2002). Various tests were performed to
check the correct interpretation of the spectrometric
data in those cases where 131I was detected in the
polypropylene filters. These tests included performing
various repetitive 6 h long measurements on the same
samples to verify the 8-day half-life of this nuclide.
Additional measurements were, also, carried out a
month later on the same samples and no activity was
ever detected (above detection limit) in any of them.
Furthermore, another two gamma lines (284 and
634 keV), also from the 131I, were detected in the spectra
with highest activity confirming our identification.
Gross alpha and gross beta measurements were
carried out twice on each cellulose filter. The first
measurement was performed 15 min after collection in
order to determine the contributions produced by the
short-lived radon daughters. The second measurement
was made 3 days after collection to allow these short-
lived nuclides to decay. All these measurements were
carried out with a low background proportional counter
(Berthold LB770). All the alpha and beta activity
calculations were corrected for the mass thickness of
the aerosol deposit collected in the different filters. The
average detection limit for this apparatus was 9.5 
106 Bq m3 for alpha activity and 1.5  105 Bq m3
for beta activity. Due to the low concentration of alpha
and beta emitters in the filters, long counting times of
10 h were used for each measurement. Background
measurements were carried out each week using similar
counting times as normal sample measurement. A
background subtraction procedure was applied on each
of the gross alpha and gross beta analyses.
The standard meteorological data: rainfall, relative
humidity, visibility, pressure, temperature, wind speed
and wind direction, collected at a measuring station
located 4 km from the sampling site, have been provided
by the Spanish National Institute of Meteorology. The
temporal averages (weekly, seasonal, etc.) of the relative
humidity, visibility, pressure and temperature were
calculated based on four daily measurements taken at
4059
0, 7, 13 and 18 h, carried out over the whole 4-year
period. The total rainfall was calculated by summing the
total daily rainfall for the considered periods. The
weekly averages for the wind speed and direction were
calculated using a type of vector analysis based on the
values collected daily every 6 h.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Measurement and data statistics
Table 1 summarises the main statistical variables
calculated for the gross alpha and gross beta activities as
well as for the measured gamma emitting radionuclides
over the whole sampling period: 1 January 2000 till 31
December 2003. Unless otherwise specified, all the
values reported here correspond to the second of the
measurements performed in all the filters, once the
short-lived radon daughters had decayed. Notice also
that although gross alpha and gross beta measurements
exist for the whole period, the gamma measurements in
the large filters only started in the second semester of the
year 2000 and therefore there are fewer data points. The
measuring uncertainties were very variable depending on
the nuclide studied. On the one hand, measured
concentrations of 7Be were associated with the lowest
uncertainty, in the order of 2%. On the other hand, the
235
U concentrations were associated with the largest
uncertainties, in the order of 50%. The mean measure-
ment uncertainties for the Gross alpha and gross beta
activities were calculated to be (see Table 1) approxi-
mately 10% and 5%, respectively. The lowest measured
concentration of a gamma emitting nuclide was in the
order of 0.2 mBq m3, obtained for the 208Tl.
In accordance with other published studies (Dueñas et
al., 1999, 2001, 2004), the plots of the frequency
distribution of gross alpha and gross beta activities in
airborne particulate samples showed skewed histograms
(see Figs. 1(a) and (b)). A similar behaviour was
observed for the frequency histograms corresponding
to the other measured gamma emitting radionuclides (an
example is given in Fig. 1(d)), except for 7Be, which
showed a normal frequency distribution as shown in
Fig. 1(c). Due to the mentioned shape of the frequency
distribution functions obtained for the different radio-
nuclides, the arithmetic mean was used in further
analysis and comparisons as the main characterisation
factor for the 7Be activity and the geometric mean for
the other nuclides, gross alpha and gross beta activities.
While the mean yearly value of meteorological
parameters such as temperature, visibility, relative
humidity and pressure remained fairly constant over
the studied period, the total yearly rainfall showed
significant differences, increasing, e.g., by a factor of 3 in
2002 in comparison with the other considered years, see
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4060 F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066

Table 1
Statistical summary of the radiometric data collected from 1 January 2000 till 31 December 2003
7 228 214 137 131
Gross a Gross b Be Ac Bi Cs I
a
N of cases 205 206 171 12 41 31 88
Geo. mean 9.60  105 4.77  104 2.72  103 3.21  106 5.06  106 9.18  107 3.83  106
Arit. mean 1.41  104 1.00  103 3.00  103 3.33  106 8.10  106 1.15  106 4.85  106
Minimum 1.40  105 9.31  105 1.94  104 2.09  106 1.14  106 3.50  107 1.05  106
Maximum 1.00  103 3.00  103 7.00  103 5.69  106 3.80  105 3.38  106 2.11  105
Range 1.00  103 2.00  103 7.00  103 3.60  106 3.69  105 3.03  106 2.01  105
Std. error 1.03  105 2.08  105 6.90  105 2.87  107 1.29  106 1.53  107 4.30  107
C.V. 1.045 0.554 0.311 0.299 1.024 0.742 0.833
Skewness (G1) 2.461 2.456 0.744 1.116 1.897 1.314 2.336
40 210 212 214 226 208 235
K Pb Pb Pb Ra Tl U

N of casesa 147 166 159 32 26 147 7

Geo. mean 1.77  105 3.10  104 9.08  106 4.44  106 1.37  105 9.42  106 2.49  106
Arit. mean 2.50  105 3.74  104 4.52  105 6.48  106 2.26  105 4.56  105 4.30  106
Minimum 3.31  106 1.20  105 1.09  106 1.21  106 3.90  106 2.04  107 8.59  107
Maximum 1.45  104 3.00  103 2.00  103 2.56  105 2.49  104 2.00  103 1.59  105
Range 1.42  104 3.00  103 2.00  103 2.44  105 2.45  104 2.00  103 1.50  105
Std. error 2.18  106 2.27  105 1.62  105 1.05  106 9.13  106 1.63  105 2.07  106
C.V. 1.055 0.783 4.534 0.915 2.059 4.338 1.275
Skewness (G1) 2.63 3.788 6.654 1.426 4.969 6.378 2.06

All the activities are given in Bq m3.

a
Number of detected cases above the limit of detection. Geo. ¼ geometric; Arit. ¼ aritmetic and C.V. ¼ covariance.

Fig. 2. Wind speed and direction were, also, very
variable over time. A proper study of the effect of these
two meteorological parameters on the concentration of
different nuclides would probably require daily or even
shorter radiometric measurements.
Some of the nuclides, such as 214Pb, 228Ac, 235U,
226
Ra, etc. were seldom measured above the detection
limits. This explains the fewer number of available data
points in their statistic summary. A thorough analysis of
the data showed that the occasional detection of these
nuclides could not be correlated with any significant
decrease of the measuring detection limit, or increase in
the sampled air volume and/or dust content in the filters.
In fact, some of the highest activity concentrations were
measured in periods when the sampled volume was
rather low. No correlation was found between the
sample volume and sample weight, indicating that, with
weekly data, a relationship between these two variables
could not be established.
3.2. Gross alpha and gross beta activities
than the value 0.1 reported by other authors (Dueñas
et al., 2004; Garcı́a-Talavera et al., 2001; Chamberlain,
1991), indicating the possible existence of secondary
sources of alpha radioactivity from soil dust or
anthropogenic origin. In 15 occasions, mostly during
the autumn seasons, the ratio alpha/beta was higher
than 0.5, especially in the year 2003. The overall
seasonal variations of gross alpha and gross beta
activities were relatively small in comparison with the
standard deviation of the data. A similar behaviour was
observed for the yearly variations. No linear correlation
could be found between the gross alpha and gross beta
activities with any of the meteorological parameters
considered; see Table 2. A more detailed analysis of the
correlations of the gross alpha and gross beta activities
with meteorological parameters using the Spearman
coefficient showed a very weak positive correlation of
the gross alpha activity with the temperature (R-
spearman ¼ 0.27). Based on the available data and the
low dependencies found between the different variables,
no predictive model could be built.

A strong linear correlation (R ¼ 0:72) was found
between the weekly measured gross alpha and gross beta
activities over the 4-year period. The ratio between the
geometric means calculated for the alpha and beta
activities was closed to 0.2. Although 210Po is most likely
the main source of alpha activity, this ratio is higher
3.3. Natural and cosmogenic radionuclides
The mean values calculated here for the 7Be and 210Pb
activities for the whole 4-year period are lower than those
reported for other Spanish sites situated in the Iberian
Peninsula, such as Málaga (Dueñas et al., 2004), Salamanca
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F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066 4061

Fig. 1. Frequency histogram of: (a) gross alpha activity, (b) gross beta activity, (c) 7Be activity and (d) 210
Pb activity, for the data
collected from 1 January 2000 till 31 December 2003. All the activities are given in Bq m3.

Fig. 2. Year rainfall (solid line) and seasonal rainfall (box), measured in mm during the study period.

(Garcı́a-Talavera et al., 2001) and Granada (Azahra
et al., 2004). These three mentioned studies were
performed using analogous sampling and measuring
techniques as those applied in this work. Similarly, the
mean values calculated for 7Be, 210Pb, 235U, 214Bi, 212Pb
and 208Tl appeared lower than those measured at a
continental site located at similar latitude and altitude
but very different longitude (Al-Azmi et al., 2001). As
reported by several authors (Cannizzaro et al., 2004;
Al-Azmi et al., 2001; Aldahan et al., 2001), 7Be
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4062 F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066

Table 2
Linear correlation studies (Pearson coefficient), between the considered meteorological parameters and the measured activities
7 228 214 137 131
Gross a Gross b Be Ac Bi Cs I

Temperature 0.22 0.11 0.05 0.43 0.15 0.32 0.02

Pressure 0.09 0.06 0.10 0.17 0.15 0.10 0.003
Rainfall 0.10 0.14 0.03 0.32 0.06 0.19 0.04
R. humidity 0.04 0.001 0.20 0.09 0.02 0.08 0.32
Visibility 0.10 0.24 0.05 0.44 0.19 0.25 0.04
Wind speed 0.15 0.15 0.07 0.10 0.08 0.45 0.24
W. direction 0.02 0.03 0.11 0.19 0.07 0.08 0.02
40 210 212 214 226 208 235
K Pb Pb Pb Ra Tl U

Temperature 0.20 0.10 0.10 0.49 0.19 0.11 0.50

Pressure 0.04 0.03 0.007 0.34 0.28 0.003 0.75
Rainfall 0.06 0.06 0.04 0.37 0.09 0.04 0.93
R. humidity 0.14 0.02 0.01 0.03 0.09 0.002 0.04
Visibility 0.15 0.20 0.07 0.60 0.12 0.08 0.77
Wind speed 0.05 0.22 0.03 0.18 0.07 0.03 0.17
W. direction 0.04 0.008 0.12 0.03 0.15 0.13 0.21

Notice that although some of the coefficients are relatively high (40.5), the total number of data points available in all those cases is
very limited as pointed out in Table 1.

Fig. 3. Temporal variation of the calculated seasonal mean of the 7Be concentrations in the air and the mean temperature over the 4
years period (1 January 2000 till 31 December 2003). The temperatures are given in 1C and the activities in Bq m3. The error bars in
the figure denote the standard deviation of the activities.

concentrations in ground level air are expected to
decrease as we move north from middle latitudes. Thus,
higher average values would have been expected for this
nuclide at the oceanic island of Tenerife and not lower as
it has been found in this work.
Fig. 3 displays the temporal variations of the
calculated seasonal mean of the 7Be concentrations in
the air and the mean temperature over the studied
period. Maximum values were expected to occur over
the summer months as discussed by other authors
(Garcı́a-Talavera et al., 2001; El-Hussein et al., 2001;
Dueñas et al., 1999). However, the seasonal variations
observed here do not differ from each other signifi-
cantly, if one considers the standard deviation of the
weekly measured activities shown in the figure. Further-
more, the maximum calculated values happen during the
winter–spring periods. The inversion layer over the
island of Tenerife is thicker during summer months,
when air mass intrusions into the region occur at higher
altitude. This could explain why the 7Be concentration
maxima are not observed in our results during those
seasons. The negative correlation coefficient calculated
for the 7Be activity and the average temperature was
very low (R ¼ 0:05), indicating very poor correlation
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F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066
Table 3
Linear correlation studies (Pearson coefficient), between some of the measured radionuclides
Gross a Gross b
Gross a 1.00
Gross b 0.70 1.00
7
Be 0.03 0.16
210
Pb 0.26 0.52
40
K 0.21 0.18
137
Cs 0.30 0.21
with this parameter (see Table 2). Other publications
(Azahra et al., 2004; Dueñas et al., 1999) point out the
temperature as one of the most significant parameters
influencing the variation of 7Be concentrations in surface
air and therefore their prediction models. However, this
has not been observed in this work. Low correlation
factors were, also, obtained between the 7Be activities
and the average rainfall, pressure, relative humidity and
visibility.
Some common features were observed in the temporal
variations of the 7Be and 210Pb activity concentrations.
The calculated linear correlation factor was R ¼ 0:59
(see Table 3). Furthermore, 210Pb activities correlated
well (R ¼ 0:52) with the gross beta activities, in a similar
way that other authors have established (Dueñas et al.,
2004). Comparisons between the first and second
measurement carried out in all the filters showed a
decreased of 212Pb and 208Tl (short-lived 220Rn daugh-
ters) activities from levels in the order of several
mBq m3 to mBq m3, i.e., by a factor of 1000. The
temporal variations of 210Pb did not indicate any
favourable season when the concentrations were sig-
nificantly higher or any linear correlation with the
meteorological data. The calculated yearly averages for
the 210Pb activities were very constant, including that
corresponding to 2002 when the total rainfall was
highest.
Radionuclides from the 238U primordial chain (226Ra,
214
Pb, 214Bi) appeared seldom in the particulate filters,
considerably less than those from the 232Th chain (228Ac,
212
Pb and 208Tl). 235U, the only nuclide detected above
detection limits from its primordial chain, was recorded
only in 7 different weeks of measurement, while 40K was
detected in 147 weeks. 214Pb and 214Bi, daughters of
222
Rn, were in secular equilibrium with each other in
almost all of the occasions when they were detected.
212
Pb and 208Tl, daughters of 220Rn, showed a similar
behaviour. Differing with this, the activities of these two
pairs of radionuclides were not in secular equilibrium
with the 226Ra and 228Ac activities, most certainly due to
the mobility of the radon gases.
Soils commonly contain measurable amounts of 40K,
226
Ra and 228Ac. However, the source of 40K in the
filters does not seem to be same as that of 226Ra or 228Ac
4063
7 210 40 137
Be Pb K Cs
1.00
0.60 1.00
0.13 0.28 1.00
0.28 0.40 0.46 1.00
since it was detected many more times than the other
nuclides, having a comparable limit of detection. Only in
one single event both the 40K and 226Ra activities
showed a common and considerably large increase not
shown by any other nuclide. The lack of correlation
between the 40K activities and those activities from other
nuclides such as 7Be and 210Pb could be explained by the
daily occurrence of the inversion layer, which limits the
exchange of air between the lower and the free tropo-
sphere.
3.4. Anthropogenic radionuclides
Several tests, including the study of the decay period
and the detection of multiple gamma lines, were
performed to confirm the detection of the gaseous
artificial radionuclide 131I in the polypropylene filters.
This nuclide, which is often used in medical applications,
was measured above detection limits 88 times during the
sampling period, most likely trapped in the pores of the
filters or attached to particulate material. The source of
this nuclide was found to be one of the nearby hospitals.
Additional measurements were made with active carbon,
cellulose and polypropylene filters in various places in
this hospital, including in the areas where 131I wastes are
kept. These measurements confirmed the existence of
this nuclide in the air of the 131I storage room and the
ventilation outputs of the hospital as well as the
capability of both cellulose and polypropylene filters to
trap 131I. Although this hospital was supposed to be
fully equipped with charcoal filters in its air outputs,
these filters had not been replaced periodically thus
permitting the escape of this nuclide to the environment.
The concentrations measured in our atmospheric aero-
sol filters were, in general, higher in spring and summer
seasons as compared to winter and autumn. No linear
correlation was observed between the measured activity
concentrations and any of the considered meteorological
parameters. A weak negative linear correlation
(R ¼ 0:32) was observed with the relative humidity.
During the 4 years of study, 131I was never detected in
active charcoal filters which were placed adjacent to the
circular cellulose filters in the smaller pump (Radeco
AV-28A). Although this type of filter is more
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4064 F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066
Fig. 4. 40K and 137Cs concentrations in the large polypropylene filters obtained during 100 weeks of measurement. The weeks when
‘‘Calima’’ occurred are indicated in the upper part of the figure, each square represents a week with ‘‘Calima’’. The activities are given
in Bq m3. The error bars in the figure denote one sigma measuring uncertainties.
appropriate for the detection of gaseous radionuclides,
the small volume which was actually pumped by this
sampler prevented us from detecting the 131I there.
From the 171 measurements carried out in the large
filters, 140 of them did not show 137Cs activities above
the detection limits. In 31 occasions this artificial nuclide
was detected. The highest detected activity was
3.38 mBq m3. Therefore, the possible impact that the
inhalation by man of this nuclide may have, is very low.
Several of the occasions when this nuclide was detected
coincide with the arrival of dust to the island from the
Sahara desert (see Fig. 4). This phenomenon is locally
known as ‘‘Calima’’ and occurs several times per year,
especially during winter season. The amount of
dust which reaches the region is variable. During
‘‘Calima’’ episodes, the daily concentration of spherical
particles (TSP) in the lower atmosphere can reach mean
values of 400 mg m3 (Davenport et al., 2004; Viana
et al., 2002; Pérez-Marrero et al., 2002). 40K concentra-
tions were also clearly affected by this phenomenon
as shown in Fig. 4. 137Cs activities showed a positive
linear correlation with 40K activities (R ¼ 0:46), indicat-
ing that the Saharan dust is an important source of 40K
in the atmosphere at this site. 137Cs activities, also,
showed a weak negative linear correlation with the
temperature (R ¼ 0:32) and wind speed (R ¼ 0:45).
However, the data is scarce to consider these correla-
tions significant.
4. Conclusions
The measurements carried out on the aerosol filters
soon after collection indicated that the short-lived
daughters of 220Rn, 7Be and 210Pb were the main
radionuclides in airborne particulate matter at this site.
212
Pb and 208Tl presented the highest activities in the
filters that were measured soon after collection. The
maximum activity value found in the second set of filter
measurements corresponded to 7Be with a concentration
of 7.370.2 mBq m3.
Significant linear correlations were found between the
gross alpha and gross beta, gross beta and 210Pb as well
as 7Be and 210Pb activities. However, no important
correlations were found between these activities and the
considered meteorological parameters: temperature,
pressure, relative humidity, visibility, rainfall, wind
speed and wing direction. The mean values calculated
for the 7Be and 210Pb activities were lower than expected
for a continental site at the same latitude and altitude.
Moreover, the relationship between 7Be and tempera-
ture as well as the seasonal behaviour of this nuclide,
reported in recent literature for other continental sites,
was not observed in our data. The data measured in this
insular environment do not fit with predictive models
developed for continental regions as mentioned earlier.
This, we consider of the outmost importance since it
reflects that all atmospheric models developed for a
specific site should be critically tested when they are used
in other places and under different meteorological
conditions.
Two anthropogenic nuclides, 131I and 137Cs, were
detected in the particulate filters. The source of the 131I
was found to be a nearby hospital where cancer
treatments are administered. No strong correlations
were observed between these nuclides and the considered
meteorological parameters. The 137Cs showed a weak
negative linear correlation with the average temperature
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
F. Hernández et al. / Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 4057–4066
and wind speed. The 131I showed a weak negative linear
correlation with the relative humidity. Measurements
performed near the source of 131I confirmed the capacity
of cellulose and polypropylene filters to trap this gaseous
nuclide.
The data collected and analysed in this paper indicates
that there exists a possible influence on the radiometric
concentration of airborne particulate matter due to the
long-range transport of aerosols loaded with 137Cs and
40
K from the African Continent and the frequent
formation of a stable atmospheric inversion layer in
the island. However, these hypotheses remain yet to be
fully tested. It will be, also, important in the future to
use atmospheric back-trajectory models to investigate
the influence of the origin of the air masses on the
concentration of the different radionuclides since this
study may provide further clues to the source/s of
different detected nuclides.
Acknowledgements
We wish to express our gratitude to the Consejo de
Seguridad Nuclear, Spain for their support to our
laboratory and to the Instituto Nacional de Meteor-
ologı́a for all the meteorological data.
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