title: Long-term decline of 137Cs concentration in honey in the second decade after the Chernobyl accident.
abstract: In the years 2001-2004 the (137)Cs activity was investigated in a total of 336 samples of different varieties of honey harvested in the Liguria Region of Northern Italy. Our purpose was to define (a) residual radioactive contamination following the Chernobyl accident and (137)Cs long-term decline, (b) correlation between (137)Cs activity and different honey varieties, and (c) correlation between (137)Cs activity and the prevailing geomorphological configuration in the collection areas. The mean (137)Cs specific activity was 4.33+/-5.04 S.D. Bq/kg. Chestnut honey showed higher levels of radioactive contamination, which were ascribed to the extensive, superficial and deep, root apparatus of the tree. Honey samples from acidic argillite soils, which withhold radionuclides after deposition and slowly release them to plants, also showed higher (137)Cs activity. Long-term decline was calculated at 456 days, a value lower than those published from different food sources in the years following the accident. The rate of long-term decline decreases with time.
authors.affiliation: DiSSal-Department of Heath Sciences, University of Genoa, Via Pastore 1, 16132 Genoa, Italy. panatto@unige.it
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panatto
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gasparini
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rovatti
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gallelli
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D005507:Food Contamination, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis*; D007558:Italy; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011847:Radioactive Fallout / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011847:Radioactive Fallout