1. Transfer of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides to ants, bryophytes and lichen in a semi-natural ecosystem.
- Author
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Dragović, Snezana, Howard, Brenda, Caborn, Jane, Barnett, Catherine, and Mihailović, Nevena
- Subjects
RADIOISOTOPES ,RADIATION exposure ,ANTS ,BRYOPHYTES ,LICHENS ,SOIL testing ,SOIL physical chemistry ,RADIOACTIVITY measurements - Abstract
Few data are available to quantify the transfer of both natural and anthropogenic radionuclides to detritivorous invertebrates to facilitate estimation of the internal dose to such biota in models used to assess radiation exposure. To enhance the available data, activity concentrations of
137 Cs,40 K,90 Sr,239 + 240 Pu,241 Am,235 U and238 U were measured in ants ( Formicidae) and corresponding undisturbed soil collected from the Zlatibor mountain in Serbia and ant/soil concentration ratios (CR) calculated. The241 Am concentration ratios for ants were fourfold higher than those calculated for ants in a previous study whereas they are similar to the more numerous data previously reported for a range of detritivorous invertebrates in other studies. CR values for137 Cs in ants were similar to the few other reported values and slightly lower than those for a range of detritivorous invertebrates. Those for239 + 240 Pu were slightly higher than those for ants in two other studies but they were close to upper limit of a range of data reported for detritivorous invertebrates. All the CR values will be included in a future revision of the ERICA Tool database and will particularly improve the information available for uranium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2010
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