Radiomonitoring of the Opole industrial district

The metallurgic industry is one of the main sources of environmental pollution. It emits dust which include manganese oxides, iron oxides, zinc and lead which are deposited in  soil.The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the local metallurgical industry on soil contamination with metals released during the processing using Pb-210 as a contamination monitor. Soil samples were collected from 19 sites located around the city of Opole industrial zone which consists, for example, welding and galvanizing companies. In studies various types of sampling sites were taken into account, such as the forests, meadows, fields and allotment gardens. The activity measurements of Bi-214, Pb-214, Cs-137 and Pb-210 were performed using gamma spectrometer.Using the properties of the latter isotope the local level of soil contamination was estimated. The results indicated that the metallurgical industry is not a source of environmental pollution in the immediate vicinity. Excess lead concentrations ranged from 1 to 100 Bq/kg d.m. and were not strongly correlated with the distances from the presumed source of contaminatio