
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Smith, JD 
A1  - Towler, PH 
T1  - Polonium-210 in cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes) from south-eastern Australian waters
JF  - Marine and Freshwater Research
JO  - Mar. Freshwater Res.
Y1  - 1993
VL  - 44
IS  - 5
SP  - 727
EP  - 733
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/MF9930727 
N2  - A study was made of the concentration of the naturally occurring radionuclide polonium-210 in the livers of cartilaginous fishes (chondrichthyans) caught in the waters of Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia in  1991. Five elasmobranch species had 210Po concentrations in the range 1-31 Bq kg-1 (wet weight)  and one holocephalian species, the elephant fish (Callorhynchus milii), was exceptional with a 210Po  range of 60-270 Bq kg-1 (n=3, mean 180 Bq kg-1). Lead-210 was present at 0.1- 1.1 Bq kg-1 and activity  concentration ratios of 210Po:210Pb were all greater than 1, indicating that the 210Po could not all  have grown in from in situ decay of 210Pb within the chondrichthyan liver. The concentration of 210Po  in the livers appeared to be species related. Concentrations of the trace metals Cu, Fe and Zn showed  no correlation with the 210Po and were not species-related. The mean concentration of 210Po measured  in Port Phillip Bay water was 0.32 mBq kg-1. This yields concentration factors of 3.2 &#215; 103 to 8.4 &#215; 105  for unsupported 210Po in the livers of the chondrichthyans. The total 210Po (using Q=20) exposes the  livers to a weighted absorbed dose of up to 140 mGy year-1 (16µGy h-1), which is >99% of the total internal  dose and three orders of magnitude greater than the external dose based on estimated levels of 40K. 
ER  -

