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Strontium Concentrations in Chamisa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) Shrub Plants Growing in a Former liquid VJaste Disposal Area in Bay0 Canyon

Los Atamos

Strontium Concenmtions in Chamisa (Chryxrtharnnus nauseosus) Shrub Ptants Growing in a Former Liquid Wmc Disposal Area in Bay0 Canyon

P. R F r q u c r T.S. Foxx L Naranjo, Jr.

Los Alamos H A T I O Y A L L A R O R A T O R Y

LW u r n s . ~m M e x w 17545

P.R FresquczTS. Fox& and L Sarmjo Jr,

Chamisa (Chrysnthamnrrs nuxwm.us) shrub p h n n powin2 in a former liquid 1v3atc disposal site (.%lid \Vas& Xhnagcmcnt Unit 1,SW31U] 10-003(c!) in Bay0 Canyon at Los ,Uarnm Sational Labontory (LAST) were

collected and analyzcd for strontium (%) and ton1 uranium Surfacc sooil ~ r n p l c s wefc nlw collcctcd from bdow (understop) and bcnvccn (intcrspacc) shrub canapics, h t h chamisa p h n b vowing over SWXU 101 003(c) containcd signiftwntlg higher conccnat iow of 9"Sr than a control plnnt+onc p h n t in particular. contained 90,W pCi "Sr E-' ash in t o p growh rnitcriaL Similarly. wil surfacc sarnplm collected undcrnath and bcnvccn plann contained %r concentrations abavc backnound and LLWL screening action IcvcLc this probably wcurrcd as a result o f cham;.- phnr l d fa11 contaminating the soil undmto? area followed by water andlor winds moving '"Sr to thc soil inrerrpacc a m Although some soil surhcc migntion of '*SP from S V M U 1 0 3 ( c ) has occurrd thc lcvcl of "SSr in scdimcnts collcctcd downsimrn of .SWMU ldoO3(c) at thc a g o CangodStatc Raad 4 intcncction \vas stin within rcional (backsound) conccnmtions.

I. ISTROD u cr t os S~xcnl studies h w c shown that vgmticm growing over b u n d low-level ndimctive

waste sitcs at Los ~ U m o s Narionaf Labontory (LLYL) may m l o a t c ndonuchdts from the

roots to aboveground plmt c o m p m n a (D?rcsm and Xkrplc 19S0, Wnzd ct a]. 1987, Frcsqucz ct 31. 199Sa). lkp-rooted perennial plant species like mcs and shrubs w m cited to be L!C major offenders (Foxx ct aL 1 9 % ~ FOLK et al, 19Wb). and may act zs conduits to other biotic (Hakonson and Bostick 1976, Gilbat ct al. I P S , Pindcret 31.1991) and abiotic (Hdy 1977. &e et d. 2 985. Bcckcr 1992. Bunzl rt a!. 1904) componmu +hr m y cvcnnrslly result in a ndiadoa dose to human. (Frcsqucz et d. 1990, Frcsqucz ct 31. 199Sa, Frcsquu ct d. 199%. F m q u a et 31. 1995d).

During3 rcccnt hvironmcntal Rcsiontion predrilling ndiologid s d a c c svrvcy in &yo Canyon at LX\L some C h i = (Ch~wt i lamnu~ ~CKTCCJ.WV) shrub plants d i b i t c d dmtcd bcn

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ndiomivity (Dcrck Fmlk ERWGolder, pmoml communiarion. July 19%) (Figure I). TICSC lac-successional planw, which may roo! 3% dccp 3s 4.5 m (13.5 ft) (Ticmcy snd Fon 19S71. wcc

gowing over a former liquid waste disposal mcturc (fl.bI0-G) (Solid WLSC Mmgcmcnt Unit [SWfU] I O-O03[c]) ILLSL 1992). Liquid u"ite disposal stmcturc TA-1043 held ISnz!!um ( La) and strontium ( Sr) contaminatcd wnstcs gcnmted by thc ndiochmisalJ labontoF (TA- 10-1) and was dccommiaioncd and dccont3Jni.rcitcd in 1963-the smcturc ~ ~ z . ~ rcmovcd.

cuavated to a depth of 6 rn (1 S ft>, and bacldllcd with soil and building dcbris from other pm.; of thc TA-IO O ~ C E I ~ ~ O R (EbcL.xcl1 and Brlbich 1963). In 1974. ;t .mil su~urf3cc invetjption dctcctcd elevated lmcls of gross bm radioactivity near S b 5 I U 10-003~) (Mayticld ct al. 1979).

Strontium-90, a bm mining isotope with 3 rclativcly long half-Iifc (3 yeys) and high dcgrcc of food chin mobility, condnrtes 3 potmud long-term h z x d (Wicker and Schultz 19SZj. Thc objcctivc of this srudy WLS to dctcrminc thc mount of "'Sr upokc in dccp-rooring c h i s a plants from a fomrr liquid \V;LS~C d i s p u l m a and dc tmine thc mmt of wil-surf3cc con taminxion.

I40 90

11. STETHODS Soil sample WCTC callcctcd undcmmth (undcn:oF: zzd ~ v c m (intmpce) two clumisa

p l m shrub canopkwthox b t mcasurrd the hlghcsr in beta ndicwcriiy with field sunry insrmmnration+powing in &yo Canyo:! w<th 3 stainkc srel scoop at thc 0- to 2-inch d q t h in August of 1994 At l a s t three s u b m p l n wm collmcd from ach zonc. mxcd thorou_rfily in a

stainless stccl bowl. poured into SOO-mL poly bortlc;. and double baggr~ in Ziploc containax. Similarly, plant top gro\vth and root p o i d - ~ from a c h of the RVO c h m k plmts wcre sampled by cutting thc dcsircd plwt part.\ into 1- to ?-inch picccs. phcing into 1-L g h s bakes. covcring with tin foil, and double bagging into 7jpIoc conrainas :Ul sxz~plcs wcre mmpcmcd to tbt hbonrory under full chain-of-custody protocols in 3 locked icc chca At thc L;lbdmtoq-. p h t samples I V ~ C ashed to SOOlC, tsansfctrcd to hh!& SObrnL poly bortlcs. d e C wit!! chah-of-

custody npc. and submincd along with the soil snmplc; to the En~iironmcnnl Chcmismy C r q for thc analysis of "'Sr osicg 3 p+proponioml cowte technique (mmm ct (11. 1987) md rOzI1 uranium by thc kinctic phm-hotcsccncc rnct!!od ( F r q u c r ct al. 1995).

It?. RESULTS 90 Thc analysis of Sr and rod m i u m in clxmi.s.t plm~s mc! wit$ collmcd over SU'MU

10-003 (c) in h y o b y o n can bc found in Tablc I md Table 2. ~ ~ c d v c l y . Both chamis planb, and clipxially in topgrowth mtaial. connined significantly higher

conccnmrions ofw% than topgoMh rn~cml collcctcd from I background chmxu plant h c chamisj plannt in fact. containcd 90,500 pCi g1 ash ofwSr+ovcr ?OO.OOO times high- t ! ! the

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control plant Althoufi thc mount of "OSr conmirution at depth (WWCC) is not completely kno\vn. LI rccmt Environmmul Restontion borcholc investistion conducted approximately 2 to 3 fcct away from whcre the plants whm collcctcd showed 4,201 pCi g*' of Sr at the 5- (154) to 5.3-m (16-ft) dcpth (?;ctrtlin 1995). Strontium-90.3 high biological mobile imopc bcc=lusc of is chemical similarity to calcium, is radily tllkm up by planrs (Mmcl 1965) md M i w p h t roots havc been s h o w to g ~ o w as dccp 3s 4.5 m (13.5 ft) or more (Ticmcy and Folcv 19Sf). uranium Icvcls in topgrowth and root-growth miterials from c b i u plmurts growing over SWMU 10-003(c) were cqw! to umnium levels in rapgrowth and root-growth sarnplts from h i . p l m s collcctcd from a background l0c;ltion. Tltc higher concentration5 of uranium in the root.. of thc chmisa plants u compzrd TO the topgrowth marcrials wcrc probably due to thc hct that thc root w p l c s contain rnorc soil on the surfacc thm docs thc ropgrowh m : d which b k c d t!!c

Both undersroT and interspace soil m p l c s contained "Sr a above-backpound concntntions: this probably occurrcd 3% a result of chmi.q plant leaf fall conminxins thc Mil understory am fullowcd by water mdar wind diqxrsil connmimdng the soil hrmpcc: ams. Soil collcctcd from undemnth chmisa plant d l , in fact, contained 1.914 timn more wSr thyl background soil ~ p l c s which corrchtcs vcry wcll with the c h i s a plant uptslcc &n Intmpacc soil XCLS also containcd 90Sr at eleva.tcd lcvcls m g h g in concenntiar, from 13 to 16 pCi g": k hjghcst IcveI w3s over 1 1 t i m s higher ~h background Mortovcr, bath u n d c r s t o ~ and intmpscr: sail arcas contained wSr Imds sbovc the LLSL screening anion lcvcI (SAL) ofs.9 pCi 6.' (Dorricl; 1995). kdionuclidc conccntrztioL$ in soils above SAL'S. whkh arc based on ndiation dosc levc!s using a risk aw.mmCnr pathwy computer code d l c d RESRID, ki t i j t t and rcquirc thc Lborarory to further mtlurc the xca (i.c.. sitc-spcdfic bxelinr risk assessment, additional sampling, ctc.) (ElUC 1995). hlthough the .soils dab show thx wrnc miprion of

Sr from the contamimtcd sourcc has occurred. thc Icvcls of 'OSr in sediments (0.10 pCi g-') collcctec! downstram of SUXU 1 O-OOj(c) 21 the Bayo Cmyon'Sntc Road 4 i n t d o n in 1994 (EPG 1995) wcrc still wit!in rcgiom1 tbrrckground) conccnmtions (0.S pCi g*') (Rmynun d. I9S3 howtva. Also. dl unnium conccnmtions in soils collcctcd from undcmcath 3nd bccwrm chmi.sa plant5 gowing ovcr SWXCT 1 O-O03(c) wcrc \\<thin background soil concentmions,

Thcsc dm corrclnted vcfy wcll with othm soil uranium backpound srudics conducted wh.hh LkYL (Lonpi rc ct a!. !99S) and rcgioml off-sitc arms (Frckqua ct a], 1995).

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cmslytiul :csults.

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I\'. A C KS O\V LE D C 31 EST Wc would likc to thank John Sal- and Dale Lyons fur helping \ k i t h m p l e collo5on

and processing,. Also. t h m k to Joy Fcrcnbaugh ( Indute research ssi.sunt) and Stephanie U3itt lundcrgndurc student) far tabulating the data. Mxy Salisbury for construmng the !I,nurc. and ro

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G a p hllcn (CST-IS) and D m k Fsulk ERWGo!dc) for providing site ~ c c s s , RFI informtion.. and manuscript rcvicw.

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BlacLwcll, C.D. and F. Babich, "Rcmovd of all Strucn~ccs in Bayo c y l y o ~ ~ ~ Lo:, ~\13mos Scientific Labontory memonndum, En~irormcnal Rcaondon Records Procasing Facility 1.D.tt 2070 (1963).

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!dill Tailings by Founsring Qltbush (Zr,mplcr cancscma~) and r W %aton (Sporoholm uiroidcs)." 10s ~IJmos Scientific hbontory repon LA-UR-79-3GS (>?arch 1QSO).

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EIUC. "Scrccning Asscssmnt Methodology at Los Almos Sation1 Lboxito~," En\5rom,cnul Restontion .k.scssmcnLs Council, h Alsmos Sationat hbontory palicy papm (In kcss 1995).

Foxx, T.S., G.D. Ticmey, and J.M. IYiiI ixm, "Rooring Depths of Plants on Low-Lmcl IVaSte Disposal Sites." Los Alamos Sational Labontory report LA-lO3EMS (October 19,%a).

Fori, T.S.. G.D., Ticmcy, and J.,Cl, ISiIliarns~ "Roofig Depths of Plants to Biological and Environmmrnl Fsctors." Los N m o s National Libontory rcpon LA-102S.tMS ( S o v m b n 19Wb).

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1993." Los Alamos National Labontory rcpo~t LA-I 3 1 S->IS (hugusX 19%). F r q u c z . P.R. J.B. Bigp, and KD. B m a "Radionuclide Conccntntions in t'cgmrion at

Radimdvc-W~stt Disposal Aru G during the 1994 Growing sesl.;os" Los t h o s

National LborJtory rcpoK L1-129%MS flunc 19953).

23+:u Buml, L, H. Forstcr. W. linckc, and W*. S c h i m c k "Raidcncc T i m 6 of Fallour

Frmquez P.R. D.R. Amstrong. and J.G. S n l w . 7 r i t i ~ n 1 Canccnrnrions in Bees and Honey at Los Ahnm Sitioml Laboratory." Los ;Uynos Satioml hbontory q o r t L\-tL\T- M S (May 199Sb).

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Frcsqurr, P.R., !LA Mullol, md J.K. F m b a u g h . "Radionuclides and hdimcthip in SoiLi U'ithin and Around Lo3 r l l m o ? ; National Labontory 1974 to 19%- Los A h o s stltional h b o n t o p rcport L32-UR-95-3671 ("Sovcmbe: 1995).

GiIbcrt. R.O.. J.H. Shim, E.H. Euington. T, Tmun EM. Romney. KS. Moor, 3nC T.P. O'Farrel. "Radionuclide Tmsport from ,%il to Air. k d v c Vcgmtiors Kangaroo R m mc! Gazing Cattle on thc Scm& T a r Sire." H d r h Ph>xicin 55:S69-Ssf ( i 9 S ) .

I-iakonson, T.E., and LV. Bostick. '?hc Availability of Emironmcnnl Radio3ctir?p IO

N o n c y k Colonies i t Los Alamos." Jounwl ofEnvironmmn1 QuaIiry. 5507-310 (1976). Haly, J.b'.. "hn cs3mimtion of the ways from Soil to X I y l for Plutonium," Lo?; r U m o s

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.Lfmel. RG., "Soil-Plar,t Rcltrtionships of kdioactivc Elements," H d t h Phpics , I 1:133-1332

Ncwljn. J.. "Strontium-90 D3ta From OU 1079 Bay0 Canyon BorchoIcs." Los Almos % n o d

Finder. J.E.. LW. LIcLcod. RF. Lidc, and KC. ShmcK!.. "!4x+ Loading of Soil FyncIa on a

Sci~ntific hbonrop LA-674I-MS (Aprjl 1977).

92-SSO. (hhy 1992).

( 1 FSS).

Almos. Scw Matico.' Dcptmcnt ofEncrgy repon DOE43'a005/15 (1979).

( I 965).

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P u n p u n , W.D., RJ. Pctm. T.E. Buhl, M.3. MasS. and F.H. Brown. "Bxkgomd Conccnntions of kdionuclidc in .Coils and River Sediment! in Sonhcn Sew >ICuico,

!974-1986," 1-0s AIamoa Sational Labantory repon W-I 13.tXlS (ISST). Ticmcy. G.D.. and T.S. FOXY, "Root Lengths of Plan&< on Loi; Alamos Satiom! h h m o r y

Land\." 10s Alamos Sational h h o r i x o ~ ~ r q o n W-1 OS65-hlS (Jmuap 19S7). lyickcr. W.F.. and V. Schultx, Radiocrofo,q-v: ,Vuchr f i c ~ p and rhc Environment, CRC Pres.

Inc., Boa Fhton. FL. ( 1952). Wcnzcl, b'.J.. T.S. FOXY, h F . Gallcgos, G. Tim?, and J.C. Rogm, "Cesium-137.

Pluronium-239i2~0. Total Uranium, and Scandium in Trcm and Shrubs Growing in Transuranic Wstt 3t A m G," Los. A s n o s Xttioil31 Labontory rcpoir LA-1 I lZ6-M.S (Savcmba 1987).

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