Levels and behavior of natural radioactivity in the vicinity of phosphate fertilizer plants

• DOI: 10.1007/bf02040229
• Publication Date: 2005-08-13T09:46:22Z
• Authors: M. García-León; A. Martínez-Aguirre; R. Periáñez; J. P. Bolívar; R. García-Tenorio
• Keywords: Phosphate fertilizer; Phosphoric acid; Natural radioactivity; Zirconium phosphate

Phosphate rocks are used for phosphoric acid production, which is the basis of agricultural phosphate fertilizers. It is known that phosphate ores contain, due to geological reasons, important amounts of natural radioactivity, mainly U-isotopes and daughters. By studying a specific case in Southwestern Spain, it is shown that the operation of phosphate fertilizer factories clearly enhance the natural radiation levels of its close environment. Levels of U-, Th-isotopes, and other natural radionuclides are given for a wide set of different samples, which support such a conclusion. In addition, the study of isotopic ratios gives information on the environmental behavior of such radionuclides.