Iodine (129I and 127I) in aerosols from northern Europe

Huge amount of I-129 has been emitted to the environment during the last decades from a variety of anthropogenic nuclear activities. Aerosols represent a carrier of iodine in the atmosphere in addition to gaseous forms for which data are lacking in Sweden. In this study the first time series of iodine isotopes (I-129 and I-127) in aerosols covering the period of 1983 to 2008 from two sites in Sweden are presented. The results show that both I-129 and I-127 concentrations are considerably higher in southern compared to northern Sweden. Furthermore there is a significant difference in the relative concentrations between the sites being similar to 6 times higher for I-129 compared to similar to 3 times for I-127. The portion of the I-129 related to dry deposition, based on aerosol data, represents only a minor amount of the total fallout which is dominated by wet deposition. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.