Radionuclides in Aerosols
7Be and 210Pb are the natural radionuclides present in the atmosphere. Several studies have shown that useful information about transport, removal and residence time of aerosols in the atmosphere can be obtained from the measurements of 7Be and 210Pb. 7Be (half-life = 53.3 days) is produced by cosmic ray spallation of nitrogen and oxygen primarily in lower stratosphere and upper troposphere. Therefore, 7Be is used as a tracer of stratospheric or high tropospheric sources such as ozone, stratospheric bomb fallout debris, stratospherically injected volcanic components. In contrast, 210Pb (half-life = 22.3 years) is a progeny of 238U. The source of 210Pb is radioactive decay of 222Rn (half-life = 3.8 days), a noble gas, continuously emitting from soils to the atmosphere. Thus, 210Pb is a tracer of continental air as more than 99% 222Rn is emanating from the surface of continents. Half-life of both the radionuclides are long enough with respect to their residence time in the lower atmosphe...