Transfer and uptake of radium in a natural and in a technologically modified radiation environment

Transfer of 40K, 238U, 210Pb, and 210Po from soil to plant in various locations in south of Syria

“…Natural environmental radioactivity arises mainly from primordial radionuclides, such as 40 K, and the radionuclides from the 232 Th and 238 U series, and their decay products are considered to be the main contributor to internal radiation dose (Yassine et al, 2003;Bunzl and Trautmannsheimer, 1999;Merian, 1991;Sheppard and Evenden, 1988;Aguirre et al, 1997;Al-Masri et al, 2002;Pulhani et al, 2005). Several studies on transfer of natural radionuclides from soil to plant have been carried out in different regions in the world (Aguirre et al, 1997;Simon and Ibrahim, 1987;Tracy et al, 1983;Paul and Pillai, 1986;Pulhani et al, 2005;Veselsky, 1997;Bunzl and Trautmannsheimer, 1999;Martinez-Aguirre and Perianez, 1998;Staven et al, 2003;Ewers et al, 2003;Blanco Rodriguez et al, 2006;Tome et al, 2003). However, there seem to be few data on transfer of natural radionuclides from soil to plant in semiarid environments.…”

“…Soil properties that affect uptake may include mineralogical and granulometric composition, organic matter content, pH and fertility (Noordijk et al, 1992;Kuhn et al, 1984;Baeza et al, 1999;Lei, 1984;Paul and Pillai, 1986;Sheppard and Sheppard, 1985). Relationships between substrate (soil) and plant concentrations for both nutrients and contaminants have been widely studied (Green et al, 1996;Linsalata et al, 1989;Sheppard and Sheppard, 1985;Bunzl and Trautmannsheimer, 1999;Merian, 1991;Sheppard and Evenden, 1988;Mordberg et al, 1976;Timperley et al, 1970;Tracy et al, 1983).…”

Uptake and distribution of natural radioactivity in wheat plants from soil

“…Thus the spatial variability of natural radioactivity in soil and associated radiation exposures through specific food materials is an important study. Most of the available literature refers to studies either in soils of the high background areas or pot experiments with spiked radioactivity in nutrient solution or soil (Azam and Prasad, 1989;Paul and Pillai, 1986;Lalit and Shukla, 1982;Gulati et al, 1980;D'Souza and Mistry, 1970). These studies give only an approximation of the processes occurring in the complex soil solution and do not reflect the real situation existing in a field.…”

Transfer factors of Polonium from soil to parsley and mint

“…On the other hand, natural environmental radioactivity arises mainly from primordial radionuclides, such as 40 K, and the radionuclides from the 232 Th and 238 U series, and their decay products are considered to be the main contributor to internal radiation dose. Several studies on transfer of natural radionuclides including 210 Po from soil to plant have been carried out in different regions in the world (Martinez-Aguirre et al, 1997;Simon and Ibrahim, 1987;Tracy et al, 1983;Paul and Pillai, 1986;Pulhani et al, 2005;Bunzl and Trautmannsheimer, 1999;MartinezAguirre, and Perianez, 1998;Staven et al, 2003;Ewers et al, 2003;Blanco Rodriguez et al, 2006;Tome et al, 2003;Al-Masri et al, 2008). However, only soils to plant transfer factors are considered in these studies.…”