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Phytoremediation of a Radiocesium-Contaminated Soil: Evaluation of Cesium-137 Bioaccumulation in the Shoots of Three Plant Species

USDA-ARS, Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853;
Environmental & Waste Technology Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Bldg. 830, 34 North Railroad St., Upton, New York 11973-5000;
MSE Technology Applications, Inc., P.O. Box 4078, Butte, MT 59702.

^* Corresponding author (lvk1{at}cornell.edu).

ABSTRACT

A field study was conducted to investigate the potential of three plant species for phytoremediation of a ¹³⁷Cs-contaminated site. Approximately 40-fold more ¹³⁷Cs was removed from the contaminated soil in shoots of red root pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) than in those of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern] and tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius A. Gray). The greater potential for ¹³⁷Cs removal from the soil by A. retroflexus was associated with both high concentration of ¹³⁷Cs in shoots and high shoot biomass production. Approximately 3% of the total ¹³⁷Cs was removed from the top 15 cm of the soil (which contained most of the soil radiocesium) in shoots of 3-too-old A. retroflexus plants. Soil leaching tests conducted with 0.1 and 0.5 M NH₄NO₃ solutions eluted as much as 15 and 19%, respectively, of the soil ¹³⁷Cs. Addition of NH₄NO₃ to the soil, however, had no positive effect on ¹³⁷Cs accumulation in shoots in any of the species investigated. It is proposed that either NH₄NO₃ solution quickly percolated through the soil before interacting at specific ¹³⁷Cs binding sites or radiocesium mobilized by NH₄NO₃ application moved below the rhizosphere, becoming unavailable for root uptake. Further research is required to optimize the phytotransfer of the NH₄NO₃-mobilized ¹³⁷Cs. With two croppings of A. retroflexus per year and a sustained rate of extraction, phytoremediation of this ¹³⁷Cs-contaminated soil appears feasible in <15 yr.

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