The transfer of artificial radioelements contained in seaweed to food transformation products (alginates and carrageenans)

Abstract

Abstract. As part of the work of the Groupe Radioecologie Nord Cotentin (the Nord Cotentin Radioecology Group or GRNC), a study has been carried out of potential routes of exposure associated with the industrial extraction of gelling agent from seaweed harvested on the coastline of the English Channel. The main question was whether the seaweed transformation operations tend to eliminate or concentrate the radioactivity in the consumed products. Work carried out in 1989 showed that the extraction of gelling agents from seaweed results in a significant reduction in the artificial radioactivity present in the raw product for radionuclides such as 137 Cs, 125 Sb, 1(K Ru-Rh, Co, 99 Tc, n0m Ag, but with the exception of 90 Sr. However, it seemed important to complete this work by studying transfers of 1 2 9 I, plutonium isotopes ( 238, 239 ' 240 Pu), 241 Am and 244 Cm. The seaweed species studied (Laminaria digitata and Chondrus crispus) were collected during February 1999 in the port of Goury, 5 km from the outlet pipe of the La Hague COGEMA nuclear reprocessing plant. This new study confirms that a significant proportion of the artificial radioactivity present in the initial product is eliminated in the end products, including Iodine, Plutonium, Americium and Curium.

129I determination by direct gamma-X spectrometry and its application to concentration variations in two seaweed species

“…Temporal variations in the self-attenuation coefficient are related to variations in the elementary composition of the matrix, including variations in iodine in the case of seaweed. Our study focused on brown seaweed, more specifically Fucus serratus and Laminaria digitata, which are used as bio-indicators in environmental studies to monitor various pollutants [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. The specificity of such seaweed resides in their sedentary nature on the one hand and the fact that they concentrate elements that are only soluble in their surrounding environment on the other hand.…”