title: Accumulation of radioactive cesium released from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in terrestrial cyanobacteria Nostoc commune.
abstract: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment and contaminated the soil of Tohoku and Kanto districts in Japan. Removal of radioactive material from the environment is an urgent problem, and soil purification using plants is being considered. In this study, we investigated the ability of 12 seed plant species and a cyanobacterium to accumulate radioactive material. The plants did not accumulate radioactive material at high levels, but high accumulation was observed in the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc commune. In Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, N. commune accumulated 415,000 Bq/kg dry weight (134)Cs and 607,000 Bq kg(-1) dry weight (137)Cs. The concentration of cesium in N. commune tended to be high in areas where soil radioactivity was high. A cultivation experiment confirmed that N. commune absorbed radioactive cesium from polluted soil. These data demonstrated that radiological absorption using N. commune might be suitable for decontaminating polluted soil.
authors.affiliation: College of Science and Engineering, Iwaki Meisei University.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirato
authors.forename: Tomoya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tahara
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takenaka
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000378:metabolism*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D007564:Japan; D050501:Nostoc commune / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive