Transfer of Natural Radionuclides from Soil to Plants and Grass in the Western North of West Bank Environment- Palestine

Abstract

The transfer factors of radionuclides (226 Ra, 238 U, 232 Th, 40 K and fallout radionuclides 137 Cs) from soil to plant and grass collected from the northwest of West Bank environment-Palestine were measured. For soil to plant, the average transfer factor (TF) values were found to be 0.60, 0.50, 0.31, and 1.70 for 226 Ra, 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K respectively. For soil to grass the TF values were found to be 1.26, 1.12, 1.15 and 1.20 for 226 Ra, 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K respectively. For soil to plant, the average transfer factor values were found to be 0.27 for fallout radionuclides 137 Cs. The TF showed wide variation in different species, while a few species of plants indicated preferential uptake of these radionuclides. TF average values from soil to grass were found to be higher than from soil to plant. Results showed that part of the total 226 Ra in agricultural soils were from phosphate fertilizers. Because the species of plants were directly involved in the human food chain, information on the concentration level and transfer of radionuclides from soil to plants will provide important data for the environmental risk assessment in such zones. These results have been compared with those of different countries of the world.

Transfer from Soil to Grass and Statistical Analysis of Natural Occurring Radionuclides in Soil from Phosphate Mining and Processing Sites in Maritime Region of Togo.

“…we can assume that the average values of the soil to grass transfer factors have been found to be in close agreement with those published by the IAEA (1994) except those for potassium which are higher than the IAEA's values as shown in Table 7. The TF of 228 Ra in our study was found to be close to the result found by Harb (Harb et al, 2014) in Egypt but less than the value finds by Mohannad (Mohannad et al, 2014) in Palestine and very higher than that found by Hasan (Hasan et al, 2010) in Pakistan as shown in Table 7. This variation might be due to different soil's physical and chemical properties, the climate in the area the study has been carried out, and some extra practices at operational processing sites.…”

Soil-to-Plant Transfer Factors and Distribution Coefficient of 137Cs in Some Palestinian Agricultural Areas

“…Generally speaking, a TF factor for 137 Cs is found to be less than that of all other radionuclides in all plant species. This indicates that 137 Cs is less efficiently transported from soil to plants than other radionuclides such as: 226 Ra, 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K. It was reported that soil-to-plant TF depends on soil properties such as nutrient standard, exchangeable K content, pH and moisture content [8]. In order to analyze the obtained data concerning the transfer of l37 Cs from the soil to the green parts of plants, it should be noted that all samples reveal the transportation of this isotope.…”

“…TF depends only on the environmental conditions; therefore, differences in deposition level between sites can be ignored. In this study the transfer factor was calculated from the concentration activity of the dry plant matter divided by the activity in the top layer of the soil and as following [8]:…”

“…In order to analyze the obtained data concerning the transfer of l37 Cs from the soil to the green parts of plants, it should be noted that all samples reveal the transportation of this isotope. The high availability of 137 Cs in some samples is probably due to its sandy texture which also contains little clay to fix 137 Cs in the soil [8]. Furthermore, the higher concentration of fallout radionuclides in some plant samples and soil particles is because of the accumulation of atmospheric fallout over a long period of time through dry weight deposition and due to strong adsorption of these nuclides to soil particles.…”

Transfer Factor from Soil-to- Mixed Grass for 40K, 238U,232Th, 137Cs

“…Many studies were done on different crops and grass. 5,6 The objective of this work is to study the transfer factor (TF) from soil to grass in Al-Bayda area in North East of Libya to be added to the data base for this part of the world, and to be informed about health safety of the radiation hazard due consumption of animal products. Soil samples were taken from five sites from 15 cm depth, after cleaning the top surface of each site from any organic material or debris.…”