ANALYSIS OF TOXIC AND RADIOACTIVE COMPONENTS IN SEDIMENTAL TYPE AIR PARTICULATES BY INAA AND XRF

The chemical composition of brown coal fuels and several sedimental ty pe atmospheric particulate pollutants of industrial origin (e.g. fly-a sh, bottom-ash, dust particulates from foundry-halls and casting-halls ) was studied in relation to their toxic and their natural radioactive contents. In addition, some agricultural crops (e.g. soyabean, sunflo wer, rape,barley and lucerne) sampled in the near vicinity within a ra dius of about 10 km of the industrial centre were also analysed for si gnificant distributions of any toxic components. Because of the high u ranium and thorium concentrations in Hungarian coal fuels and, consequ ently, in various fly ash particulate pollutants, the natural gamma ac tivities of the samples were also measured and the relevant equilibriu m states of the Th-232 and U-238 natural decay series were studied.