Patterns of 137Cs accumulation in herbaceous plant communities near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the aftermath of the accident

  • Aleksander N. Nikitin Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus; Institute of Microbiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1369-0093
  • Olga A. Shurankova Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
  • Sergey A. Kalinichenko Polessie State Radioecological Reserve
  • Egor V. Mishchanka Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
  • Galina A. Leferd Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

Abstract

Radioactive cesium isotopes often significantly determine the severity of nuclear accidents with the release of radioactive substances into the environment. Therefore, identifying the patterns of their behavior in various ecosystems, their transfer in food chains, and design effective methods for regulation of these processes are of current interest. The aim of this work was to find the patterns of 137Cs accumulation by herbaceous plants in natural ecosystems at the stage of the remote consequences of the Chernobyl NPP disaster. Three experimental sites were selected at a distance of 13–16 km from the accident epicenter. At each site, sample plots were established to study the characteristics of the vegetation cover and soil.
To confirm the impact of the moisture regime on the accumulation of 137Cs by plants, a vegetation experiment was also conducted. The analysis did not reveal a direct link between the gross soil contamination indicators with 137Cs, its soluble, ion-exchange, and labile forms in the soil with the accumulation of the radionuclide by the above-ground parts of Elytrigia repens (L.) Nevski, Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth, Poa pratensis L. and Carex brizoides L. Among the complex of edaphic factors, the closest relationship with the specific activity of 137Cs in the aboveground parts of cereal plants is associated with the volumetric water content in the soil, the content of mobile K2O, and the labile form of the radionuclide extractable with tetraphenylborate. The inverse exponential character of the relationship between these parameters and the accumulation of 137Cs is mediated by K-dependent mechanisms of Cs absorption and a decrease in the effective diffusion of K from the soil solution to the root surface as soil moisture decreases. For the sedge, the K-dependent mechanism of regulating the root absorption of Cs was not confirmed.
An experiment under controlled conditions confirmed a significant increase in the accumulation of 137Cs by grass plants with a decrease in moisture availability, caused by the activation of K transporters with high affinity for both this element and Cs.

Author Biographies

Aleksander N. Nikitin, Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus; Institute of Microbiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

PhD (agriculture); deputy director for research.

Olga A. Shurankova, Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

researcher at the laboratory of radioecology.

Sergey A. Kalinichenko, Polessie State Radioecological Reserve

PhD (biology), docent; head of the laboratory of spectrometry and radiochemistry.

Egor V. Mishchanka, Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

head of the laboratory of radioecology.

Galina A. Leferd, Institute of Radiobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

researcher at the laboratory of radioecology.

References

  1. Steinhauser G, Brandl A, Johnson TE. Comparison of the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents: A review of the environ- mental impacts. Science of the total environment. 2014;470(471):800–817. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.029.
  2. Sanzharova NI, Sysoeva AA, Isamov NN (ml.), Aleksahin RM, Kuznetsov VK, Zhigareva TL. Rol khimii v reabilitatsii sel’skok- hozyaistvennykh ugodii, podvergshikhsya radioaktivnomu zagryazneniyu [The role of chemistry in the rehabilitation of agricultural land exposed to radioactive contamination]. Russian Chemistry Journal. 2005;XLIX(3):26–34. Russian.
  3. Fesenko SV, Spiridonov SI, Sanzharova NI, Anisimov VS, Aleksakhin RM. Simulation of 137Cs migration over the soil–plant system of peat soils contaminated after the chernobyl accident. Russian journal of ecology. 2002;33(3):170–177. DOI: 10.1023/a:1015475406815.
  4. Tsybulka MM, Putyatin YuV. Biologicheskaya dostupnost’ 137Cs i 90Sr v dernovo-podzolistykh pochvakh v otdalennyi period avarii na Chernobyl’skoi AES [Biological availability of 137Cs and 90Sr in soddy-podzolic soils in the long period of the accident at the Chernobyl NPP]. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Ecology. 2022;4:108–117. DOI: 10.46646/2521-683X/2022-4-108-117. Russian.
  5. Frissel M, Deb DL, Fathony M, Lin YM, Mollah AS, Ngo NT, Othman I, Robison WL, Skarlou-Alexiou V, Topcuoğlu S, Twining JR, Uchida S, Wasserman MA. Generic values for soil-to-plant transfer factors of radiocesium. Journal of environmental radioactivity. 2002;58(2–3):113–128. DOI: 10.1016/s0265-931x(01)00061-3.
  6. Absalom JP, Young SD, Crout NMJ, Nisbet AF, Woodman RFM, Smolders E, Gillett AG. Predicting soil to plant transfer of radiocesium using soil characteristics. Environmental science & technology. 1999;33(8):1218–1223. DOI: 10.1021/es9808853.
  7. Tarsitano D, Young S, Crout N. Evaluating and reducing a model of radiocaesium soil-plant uptake. Journal of environmental radioactivity. 2011;102(3):262–269. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2010.11.017.
  8. Rai H, Kawabata M. The dynamics of radio-cesium in soils and mechanism of cesium uptake into higher plants: Newly elucidated mechanism of cesium uptake into rice plants. Frontiers in plant science. 2020;11:528. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00528.
  9. Putyatin YV. Vliyanie gumusovogo sostoyaniya dernovo-podzolistykh supeschanykh pochv na nakoplenie radionuklidov 137Cs i 90Sr kormovymi kul’turami [Influence of humus status of sod-podzolic loamy sand soils on the accumulation of 137Cs and 90Sr radionuclides by forage crops]. Soil Science and Agrochemistry. 2019;1:203–211. Russian.
  10. Podoljak AG, Timofeev SF, Grebenshhikova NV, Arastovich TV, Zhdanovich VP. Prognozirovanie nakopleniya 137Cs i 90Sr v travostoyakh osnovnykh tipov lugov Belorusskogo Poles’ya po agrokhimicheskim svoistvam pochv [Prognosis of accumulation of 137Cs and 90Sr in the herbage of main types in the Belarus Polessje meadows using agrochemical soil properties]. Radiation biology. Radioecology. 2005;45(1):100–111. Russian.
  11. Smolders E, den Brande KV, Merckx R. Concentrations of 137Cs and K in soil solution predict the plant availability of 137Cs in soils. Environmental science & technology. 1997;31(12):3432–3438. DOI: 10.1021/es970113r.
  12. Zhu Y‐G, Smolders E. Plant uptake of radiocaesium: a review of mechanisms, regulation and application. Journal of experimental botany. 2000;51(351):1635–1645. DOI: 10.1093/jexbot/51.351.1635.
  13. Ramírez-Guinart O, Kaplan D, Rigol A, et al. Deriving probabilistic soil distribution coefficients (Kd). part 2: Reducing cae- sium Kd uncertainty by accounting for experimental approach and soil properties. Journal of environmental radioactivity. 2020;223- 224:106407. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106407.
  14. Konoplev A. Mobility and Bioavailability of the Chernobyl-Derived Radionuclides in Soil-Water Environment: Review. In: Be- havior of radionuclides in the environment II: Chernobyl. Singapore: Springer; 2020. p. 157–193. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-3568-0_3.
  15. Park S-M, Alessi DS, Baek K. Selective adsorption and irreversible fixation behavior of cesium onto 2:1 layered clay mineral: A mini review. Journal of hazardous materials. 2019;369:569–576. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.02.061.
  16. Prister B. Behavior of the Chernobyl-Derived Radionuclides in Agricultural Ecosystems. In: Behavior of radionuclides in the environment II: Chernobyl. Singapore: Springer; 2020. р. 229–282. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-3568-0_5.
  17. White PJ, Broadley M.R. Mechanisms of caesium uptake by plants. New phytologist. 2000;147(2):241–256. DOI: 10.1046/j.1469- 8137.2000.00704.x.
  18. Kashparov V, Levchuk S, Zhurba M, et al. Spatial datasets of radionuclide contamination in the Ukrainian Chernobyl exclusion zone. Earth system science data. 2018;10(1):339–353. DOI: 10.5194/essd-10-339-2018.
  19. Delvaux B, Kruyts N, Cremers A. Rhizospheric mobilization of radiocesium in soils. Environmental science & technology. 2000;34(8):1489–1493. DOI: 10.1021/es990658g.
  20. Ogasawara S, Nakao A, Eguchi T. et al. The extractability of potassium and radiocaesium in soils developed from granite and sedimentary rock in Fukushima, Japan. Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry. 2019;323(1):633–640. DOI: 10.1007/s10967- 019-06971-2.
  21. Wakabayashi S, Eguchi T, Nakao A, et al. Effectiveness of non-exchangeable potassium quantified by mild tetraphenylboron ex- traction in estimating radiocesium transfer to soybean in fukushima. Science of the total environment. 2022;820:153119. DOI: 10.1016/j. scitotenv.2022.153119.
  22. Wauters J, Elsen A, Cremers A, et al. Prediction of solid/liquid distribution coefficients of radiocaesium in soils and sediments. Part one: a simplified procedure for the solid phase characterisation. Applied geochemistry. 1996;11(4):589–594. DOI: 10.1016/0883- 2927(96)00027-3.
  23. Kuchenbuch R, Claassen N, Jungk A. Potassium availability in relation to soil moisture. I. Effect of soil moisture on potassium diffusion, root growth and potassium uptake of onion plants. Plant and soil. 1986;95(2):221–231. DOI: 10.1007/bf02375074.
  24. Kumar P, Kumar T, Singh S, et al. Potassium: a key modulator for cell homeostasis. Journal of biotechnology. 2020;324:198–210. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2020.10.018.
Published
2024-08-07
Keywords: cesium-137, soil, soil moisture, radionuclide speciation, potassium, cereal plants, sedge
Supporting Agencies This work was supported by the State Program of Scientific Research «Environmental Management and Ecology» for 2016–2020.
How to Cite
Nikitin, A., Shurankova, O., Kalinichenko, S., Mishchanka, E., & Leferd, G. (2024). Patterns of 137Cs accumulation in herbaceous plant communities near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the aftermath of the accident. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Ecology, 2, 57-67. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/ecology/article/view/6243
Issue
No 2 (2024): Journal of the Belarusian state university. Ecology
Section
Radioecology and Radiobiology, Radiation Safety