²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb represent the most abundant part of atmospheric aerosol long-lived natural radioactivity. Moreover, ²¹⁰Pb-²¹⁰Po monitoring in the atmosphere can be of interest for tracking extreme natural events that can enhance the level of alpha/beta radioactivity in air. In this paper, we question the possibility to use routine gross alpha/beta measurements in order to monitor ²¹⁰Po, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb ratio in the atmosphere. Based on joint gross alpha/beta measurement and ²¹⁰Pb-²¹⁰Po specific determination on 16 atmosphere samples, we show that (i) gross beta activity systematically overestimates ²¹⁰Pb activity due to the presence of interfering beta emitters and (ii) gross alpha activity mostly reflects ²¹⁰Po activity even if an underestimation is always observed due to alpha particle attenuation. In order to determine ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb ratio, we discuss the advantages of using gross alpha activity time variation compared to specific ²¹⁰Po measurements. Finally, the gross alpha/beta ratio appear to be a good proxy of the ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb ratio when large-scale variations are to be monitored. We report a first reference level for the activity level of airborne ²¹⁰Po in France of 13 ± 6 μBq/m³.

²¹⁰ Po和²¹⁰ Pb代表了大气气溶胶长寿命自然放射性的最丰富部分。此外，对大气中²¹⁰ Pb- ²¹⁰ Po的监测对于追踪极端自然事件可能会很有用，因为这些事件可以增强空气中的α/β放射性水平。在本文中，我们质疑使用常规的总alpha / beta测量来监测大气中²¹⁰ Po，²¹⁰ Pb和²¹⁰ Po / ²¹⁰ Pb比率的可能性。基于联合的总alpha / beta测量值和²¹⁰ Pb- ²¹⁰在16个大气样品上进行Po特异的测定，我们显示（i）由于存在干扰的β发射体，总β活性系统性地高估了²¹⁰ Pb的活性，并且（ii）总α活性主要反映了²¹⁰ Po的活性，即使总是低估了到alpha粒子衰减。为了确定²¹⁰ Po / ²¹⁰ Pb的比例，我们讨论了与总的²¹⁰ Po测量值相比，使用总α活性时间变化的优势。最后，总的alpha / beta比率似乎可以很好地代表²¹⁰ Po / ²¹⁰监测大范围变化时的铅比。我们报告的机载²¹⁰ Po在法国的活动水平的第一个参考水平为13±6μBq/ m ³。