title: Discovery of radioactive silver ((110m)Ag) in spiders and other fauna in the terrestrial environment after the meltdown of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
abstract: Six months after the explosion of TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, radioactive silver ((110m)Ag), was detected in concentrations of 3754 Bq/kg in Nephila clavata (the orb-web spider; Joro-gumo in Japanese) collected at Nimaibashi, Iitate village in Fukushima Prefecture, whereas (110m)Ag in the soil was 43.1 Bq/kg. A survey of 35 faunal species in the terrestrial environment during the 3.5 years after the accident showed that most of Anthropoda had two orders higher (110m)Ag in their tissues than soils, although silver is not an essential element for their life. However, tracing of the activity of (110m)Ag detected in spider Atypus karschi collected regularly at a fixed location showed that it declined much faster than the physical half-life. These results suggest that (110m)Ag was at once biologically concentrated by faunal species, especially Arthropoda, through food chain. The factors affecting the subsequent rapid decline of (110m)Ag concentration in faunal species are discussed.
authors: Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo.
authors: Hiromi
authors: H
authors: Nakanishi
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Mori
authors: Kouki
authors: K
authors: Takeda
authors: Houdo
authors: H
authors: Tanaka
authors: Natsuko
authors: N
authors: Kobayashi
authors: Keitaro
authors: K
authors: Tanoi
authors: Takashi
authors: T
authors: Yamakawa
authors: Satoshi
authors: S
authors: Mori
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005243:Feces; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011851:Radioactivity; D011868:Radioisotopes; D012834:Silver / Q000032:analysis*; D012987:Soil; D013112:Spiders / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes; D012987:Soil; D012834:Silver