1. The Uptake and Elimination of Cesium-137 by a Grasshopper-romalea Microptera
- Author
-
Pryor Me and Crossley Da
- Subjects
Lubber grasshopper ,Insecta ,Epidemiology ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Cesium ,Zoology ,Grasshoppers ,Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Biochemistry ,Cesium Radioisotopes ,Romalea microptera ,Animals ,Humans ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,Digestive tract ,Grasshopper - Abstract
Adults of Romalea microptera, the eastern lubber grasshopper, were fed cesium-137 in bean plants to investigate uptake and elimination of this isotope. A biological half-life of 4 to 5 days was obtained. In experiments where grasshoppers were allowed to feed repeatedly on cesium-contaminated food, the biological half-life was used to pretend Cs 137 was concentrated in muscular tissue, but some was also found in the digestive tract and reproductive organs. Only trace amounts were found in the exoskeleton.
- Published
- 1960