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Phosphogypsum and its potential use in Croatia: challenges and opportunities Cover

Phosphogypsum and its potential use in Croatia: challenges and opportunities

Open Access
|Jun 2021

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Location of the phosphogypsum disposal site in relation to the fertiliser factory and the city of Kutina, Croatia
Location of the phosphogypsum disposal site in relation to the fertiliser factory and the city of Kutina, Croatia

Dose criterion for activity concentration index for different products

Dose criterion0.3 mSv/year1 mSv/year
Materials used in bulk: concreteI≤0.5I≤1
Superficial and other materials with restricted use: tiles, boards etc.I≤2I≤6

Comparison of average activity concentrations of natural radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, 40K) in phosphogypsum between Croatia and other countries (ranges in parentheses)

Country226Ra (Bq/kg)232Th (Bq/kg)40K (Bq/kg)Reference
Croatia811 (473–1626)8 (3–15)13 (7–23)(12)
Belgium431 (420–442)11 (10–11) (10, 19, 20)
Bulgaria209 (18–400)17 (9–25)3 (1–5)
Czech Republic1153195
Finland306 (24–830)23 (3–118)17 (9–30)
Germany305 (60–550)20 (20–20)110
Greece The Netherlands606 (547–642) 223 (28–450)10 (2–19) 24 (9–48)22 (0–41) 50 (16–120)
Poland267 (61–381)17 (7–28)72 (41–109)
Romania497 (155–702)40 (9–89)242 (44–569)
Slovenia5001041
Serbia600 (488–737)3 (2–5)47 (5–117)
United Kingdom1018 (629–1406)33 (19–48)130 (41–218)
USA750 (270–1353)114(10, 21, 22)

Typical element concentration ranges in PG from different countries compared to Croatian PG

Trace elementConcentration range (mg/kg)Trace elementConcentration range (mg/kg)
Worldwide data (3)Croatian PGWorldwide data (3)Croatian PG
Ag0.4–5 Na 0.008–0.010
Al 0.04–0.1Nd30–67
As1–42<0.05Ni1.7–250<1
Ba20–2365Pb0.5–16<1
Cd0.8–400.002Sb <0.05
Ce21–143 Se0.5–75<0.05
Co0.05–2.3 Sm5–13
Cr1.6–75<0.5Sr10–1118
Cu2–195<0.5Th0.4–4
Eu1.1–3 Ti26–470
Fe 90–450U0.5–13.8
Hg0.005–100.02V2–40
La42–90 Y2–156
Lu0.3–0.4 Yb2.1–3.2
Mn3.5–20 Zn4–3153.23
Mo1–16 Zr10–110
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2021-72-3504 | Journal eISSN: 1848-6312 | Journal ISSN: 0004-1254
Language: English, Croatian, Slovenian
Page range: 93 - 100
Submitted on: Nov 1, 2020
Accepted on: May 1, 2021
Published on: Jun 28, 2021
Published by: Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

© 2021 Tomislav Bituh, Branko Petrinec, Božena Skoko, Dinko Babić, Davor Rašeta, published by Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.