Abstract |
Particulate and gaseous samples for radiologial analyses were collected from the plumes created by eruptions of Mount St. Helens. The sampling aircraft and equipment used are routinely employed in aerial radiological surveillance at the Nevada Test Site by the Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory in Las Vegas, Nevada. An initial sample set was collected on April 4, 1980, during the period of recurring minor eruptions. Samples were collected again on May 19 and 20 following the major eruption of May 18. The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Radiation Programs analyzed the samples for uranium and thorium isotopes, radium-226, lead-210, polonium-210, and radon-222. Other laboratories analyzed samples to determine particle size distribution and elemental composition. The only samples containing radioactivity above normal ambient levels were collected on May 20. Polonium-210 concentrations in the plume, determined from a sample collected between 5 and 30 km from the crater, were approximately an order of magnitude above background. Radon-222 concentrations in samples collected from the plume centerline at a distance of 15 km averaged approximately four times the average surface concentrations. The small increases in radioactivity would cause no observable adverse health effects. |