University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Inter-varietal variation in caesium and strontium uptake by plants: a meta-analysi

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 20:49 authored by Beth PenroseBeth Penrose, Beresford, NA, Broadley, MR, Crout, NMJ

Radiocaesium and radiostrontium enter the foodchain primarily via plant root uptake. Selecting varieties of crop that display low accumulation of these radionuclides has been suggested as an economically and socially acceptable remediation strategy for radiologically contaminated land. However, there is insufficient information available to assess the feasibility of this remediation approach. This paper presents a comprehensive literature-based evaluation of inter-varietal variation in accumulation of Cs and Sr in crop plants.

Thirty-seven publications studying 27 plant species were identified as appropriate for these analyses. Inter-varietal variation was expressed at the ratio of the maximum to minimum observed concentrations for a given crop species and element and ranged from 1.0 to 6.3 and from 1.0 to 4.5 for Cs and Sr respectively. This variation suggests that exploitation of inter-varietal variation could be used in some crop species to reduce the transfer of these radionuclides to a similar extent to existing remediation strategies.

Low-Sr accumulating varieties were also found to have lower concentrations of Ca, whereas low Cs accumulating varieties were not shown to have low K accumulation. Concentrations of Cs and Sr in plants were not related, suggesting that finding varieties displaying low accumulation of both Sr and Cs may not be feasible.

Varietal selection could be an effective remediation strategy, and could be used in combination with other existing methods, such as fertilisation and ploughing. However, a thorough investigation of species contributing the most to ingestion doses is recommended to fully determine the feasibility of varietal selection as a remediation strategy. The reproducibility of inter-varietal variation between sites and growing seasons should be the focus of future research.

History

Publication title

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Volume

139

Pagination

103-117

ISSN

0265-931X

Department/School

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)

Publisher

Elsevier Sci Ltd

Place of publication

The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox5 1Gb

Rights statement

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Horticultural crops not elsewhere classified; Expanding knowledge in the agricultural, food and veterinary sciences

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC