Determination of 210Po in air filters from metallurgic industry

The elevated concentration of 210Po attached to aerosol particles inside a non-ferrous metal refinery was studied. The aerosols were collected on Petrianov or glass-fiber filters and subsequently subjected to radiochemical procedure consisting of acid leaching and concentration by micro co-precipitation with manganese oxide. For the activity determination alpha spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting (LSC) were applied. The obtained results showed that usually observed polonium concentration inside the plant was lower than 78 mBq m−3, however short spikes up to 7430 ± 710 mBq m−3 (related to the specific thermal process) were also observed.