Effectiveness of immediate and delayed AFCF application in reducing radiocaesium transfer to ryegrass

Abstract Following encouraging results obtained with the surface application of ammonium-ferric-hexacyano-ferrate (AFCF) to reduce radiocaesium transfer to ryegrass grown on surface-contaminated sandy soil, its efficacy as a countermeasure was investigated when recently deposited or ‘aged’ radiocaesium was homogeneously mixed with the soil. It was demonstrated that surface application of AFCF (1 and 10 g m -2 ) on a sandy soil decreased the transfer factor (TF) of radiocaesium immediately after surface contamination by a factor of 2·3 and 17·1, respectively. Distributing the deposit homogeneously with the soil led to a decrease by a factor of 2·3. Surface application at rates of 1 and 10 g AFCF m -2 further reduced the radiocaesium TF by a factor of 1·2 and 1·8, respectively. In the absence of AFCF treatment, two-year ageing contributes to a radiocaesium transfer factor decrease of mixed radiocaesium from 1·32 to 0·56 Bq g -1 DW/Bq g -1 soil (factor 2·4). Surface application of AFCF in amounts of 1 and 10 g m -2 reduced the TF of the aged radiocaesium, mixed with the soil, by a factor of 1·9 and 3·5, respectively. The presence of ‘aged’ AFCF (10 g m -2 ), surface applied immediately after deposition and mixed with the radiocaesium in the soil two years after treatment, still resulted in an about five times lower transfer factor compared to the ‘aged’, untreated control. AFCF did under no circumstances negatively affect plant growth. The results obtained strengthen previous results, showing that AFCF is an effective, long-lasting and non-toxic countermeasure for radiocaesium uptake on agricultural sandy soil.

[1]  S. D. Brouwer,et al.  Transfer of radiocaesium from podzol to ryegrass as affected by AFCF concentration , 1996 .

[2]  W. Giese.  Countermeasures for reducing the transfer of radiocesium to animal derived foods. , 1989, The Science of the total environment.

[3]  R. M. Alexakhin,et al.  Countermeasures in agricultural production as an effective means of mitigating the radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident , 1993 .

[4]  W. Giese.  Ammonium-ferric-cyano-ferrate(II) (AFCF) as an effective antidote against radiocaesium burdens in domestic animals and animal derived foods. , 1988, The British veterinary journal.

[5]  A. Maes,et al.  Quantitative analysis of radiocaesium retention in soils , 1988, Nature.

[6]  V. Nigrović.  ENHANCEMENT OF THE EXCRETION OF RADIOCAESIUM IN RATS BY FERRIC CYANOFERRATE. II. , 1963, International journal of radiation biology and related studies in physics, chemistry, and medicine.

[7]  M. Arnaud,et al.  Synthesis, effectiveness and metabolic fate in cows of the caesium complexing compound ammonium ferric hexacyanoferrate labelled with 14C , 1988, Journal of Dairy Research.

[8]  S. D. Brouwer,et al.  Effects of ammonium-ferric(III)-hexacyano-ferrate(II) and faeces addition on yield and soil-plant transfer of radiocaesium to rye-grass , 1997 .

[9]  W. Jackson,et al.  EFFECTS OF VARIOUS CATIONS ON CESIUM UPTAKE FROM SOILS AND CLAY SUSPENSIONS , 1965 .

[10]  V. Nigrović.  RETENTION OF RADIOCAESIUM BY THE RAT AS INFLUENCED BY PRUSSIAN BLUE AND OTHER COMPOUNDS. , 1965, Physics in medicine and biology.

[11]  E. C. Diekmahns,et al.  Grasses and legumes in British agriculture , 1973 .

[12]  V. Evangelou,et al.  ADSORPTION‐DESORPTION OF POTASSIUM AND AMMONIUM AT LOW CATION CONCENTRATIONS IN THREE KENTUCKY SUBSOILS , 1994 .

[13]  E. Smolders,et al.  Some principles behind the selection of crops to minimize radionucleide uptake from soil , 1993 .

[14]  M. G. Segal,et al.  Agricultural countermeasures following deposition of radioactivity after a nuclear accident , 1993 .

[15]  B. Sawhney.  Cesium Sorption in Relation to Lattice Spacing and Cation Exchange Capacity of Biotite1 , 1967 .

[16]  Hildegarde Vandenhove,et al.  Usefulness of AFCF as a countermeasure for radiocaesium transfer from loamy soil to rye-grass and clover , 1997 .

[17]  B. Sawhney.  Potassium and Cesium Ion Selectivity in Relation to Clay Mineral Structure , 1970 .

[18]  T. Mertzimekis,et al.  Reduction of cesium concentration in ovine tissues following treatment with Prussian Blue labeled with 59Fe. , 1996, Health physics.

[19]  J. Lembrechts.  A review of literature on the effectiveness of chemical amendments in reducing the soil-to-plant transfer of radiostrontium and radiocaesium , 1993 .

[20]  P. Loveland,et al.  The influence of soil properties on the environmental mobility of caesium in Cumbria , 1988 .

[21]  V. Nigrović,et al.  Diminution of Radiocaesium Body-burden in Dogs and Human Beings by Prussian Blue , 1966 .

[22]  L. Sweeck,et al.  Availability of radiocaesium in soils : a new methodology , 1994 .