Tracking Legacy Radionuclides in St Tracking Legacy Radionuclides in St. Louis, Missouri, via Unsupported 210Pb Marco Kaltofen, PhD., PE., Boston Chemical Data Corp. Robert Alvarez, Institute for Policy Studies Lucas Hixson, This is your introductory slide – use it to introduce yourself and your paper

Summary This study tracked 1940’s-era uranium processing wastes around St. Louis, MO, USA. 287 soils, sediments and dusts were tested for radioactive residues remaining after uranium ore was made into metallic uranium for weapons. Samples were tested for uranium, thorium, radium, radon and 210Pb. Waste disposal sites, their drainage channels and surrounding floodplains were targeted for analyses. Provide a summary of your main findings, and the major relevant points. If possible, include an image that illustrates your research.

Study Objectives Answer the question “so what?” here Explain the relevance and importance of your work Replace this box with an image Explain the importance and relevance of your research, putting it in context.

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Results: Airport Storage Site Drainage channel sediments at St. Louis’s Lambert Field Airport had uranium and thorium activities at 6X background. Sediment activity was 654 Bq kg-1 vs. 116 Bq kg-1 for controls, for the six most abundant uranium and thorium isotopes. Talk through your results – what stood out? What surprised you? US Army Corps of Engineers photo

Results: Coldwater Creek Homes Maximum indoor dust activities were ~10X background or more. 226Ra 283 ± 240 Bq kg-1 228Th 311 ± 195 Bq kg-1 210Pb 3,790 ± 1570 Bq kg-1 Soil 210Pb and 226Ra activities ranged as high as 4σ above the mean. Talk through your results – what stood out? What surprised you? Author photo: Coldwater Creek

Results : West lake Landfill Outline your results Explain any surprises or anomalies Continue to describe your results on this second slide if you need more time. Google earth image: West Lake landfill

Conclusions Isotopes of uranium and thorium reach elevated levels in sediments and indoor house dusts around Coldwater Creek. 210Pb activities were highest in areas known to be contaminated with residues from Mallinckrodt uranium processing wastes. This is evidence that much of the environmental 210Pb detected originated by decay of short-lived, fugitive radon gas that escaped the West Lake landfill. After reviewing the 287 environmental sample results, the most effective method for tracking uranium-processing wastes was to monitor unsupported 210Pb. Share what you concluded from your findings. Take it back to the “so what?” question – what’s so important about your conclusions?

Next steps/future work Current new work: Sampling and testing of buried Coldwater Creek sediments for radium and 210Pb. Potential future work: Will landfill fire create preferential pathways for radon release? For more information see: #Westlakelandfill #USACE #Mississippi Valley Division Talk about next steps and future work. Where do your conclusions lead? If you’ve worked on a medical treatment or product, what’s the next step in its development? Are you working on a related but different project? Here’s the place to point readers to your new research. Author photo: Coldwater creek