Reduction of crop contamination by soil resuspension within the 30-km zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
A field experiment was conducted within the 30-km zone of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to analyze whether the application of mulching reduced resuspension of 137Cs contaminated soil in oat (Avena sativa) crops. In 1993, we applied a mulch treatment at a dose of 200 g m(-2), and soil resuspension was measured by estimating soil loadings onto plant surfaces from Ti concentrations in plants. In 1994, two mulch doses were applied, 200 and 50 g m(-2), and we estimated the contribution of soil resuspension by using artificial resuspension collection devices (ARC). In the 1993 experiment between 4.6 and 34.4% of the plant's total 137Cs contamination was attributed to external soil contamination. The mean amount of soil-derived 137Cs attached to vegetation was 124.7 Bq kg(-1)(plant) in control plots and 53.7 Bq kg(-1)(plant) in mulched plots. In the 1994 experiment, covering the soil with a mulch layer decreased the radiocesium content in ARC by about 70%. Results obtained in these experiments suggest that soil resuspension was a significant mechanism for plant contamination and that mulching was effective in reducing that contamination.
Departament Biologia Vegetal, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain. msauras@ub.edu
Teresa
T
Sauras-Yera
Joana
J
Tent
Yuri
Y
Ivanov
T G
TG
Hinton
Gemma
G
Rauret
Ramon
R
Vallejo
D000383:Agriculture; D018554:Avena / Q000737:chemistry*; D001682:Biological Availability; D002586:Cesium / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D011210:Power Plants; D011847:Radioactive Fallout / Q000032:analysis*; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014455:Ukraine
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D002586:Cesium