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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Ecological Risk Assessment

Uptake and Transport of Radioactive Nickel and Cadmium into Three Vegetables after Wet Aerial Contamination

^a Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, UMR 1120, ENSAIA-INPL/INRA, 2 avenue de la Forêt de Haye, BP 172, 54 505 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy cedex, France
^b Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs, 1-7 rue Jean Monnet, 92 298 Châtenay-Malabry cedex, France

^* Corresponding author (Joelle.Fismes{at}ensaia.inpl-nancy.fr)

Received for publication July 15, 2004. Knowledge of radionuclide or trace element retention and translocation to plants following an aerial contamination event, for example, sprinkling with contaminated water, is necessary for the evaluation of human exposure through consumption of contaminated vegetables. The fate of ⁶³Ni and ¹⁰⁹Cd in all plant parts of three different vegetables after wet deposition on leaves or on fruits was studied. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), radish (Raphanus sativus L.), and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown under controlled conditions in a growth chamber were contaminated with ⁶³Ni and ¹⁰⁹Cd either on leaves, by means of two different contamination methods (a single early contamination and a repetitive one), or on bean husks (third contamination method: a single contamination at a late stage). Spiked and nonspiked organs were harvested at maturity and radionuclide contents were measured. The fraction retained was on average 56% of the initially administered doses of ⁶³Ni and 87% of ¹⁰⁹Cd. The leaf-to-other organ translocation factor was considerably higher for ⁶³Ni (on average 43% of retained radioactivity) than for ¹⁰⁹Cd (8%). Nickel-63 migrated throughout the whole plant following foliar contamination, and mainly toward young leaves, seeds in formation, and sink organs, whereas ¹⁰⁹Cd migrated to a much lesser extent and only to the organs that were closest to the spiked one, and not at all into fruit. After a fruit contamination event, both radionuclides were translocated into the seeds of spiked fruits. Radionuclide retention and translocation were not affected by plant species, but principally by the type of organ contaminated.

Abbreviations: RC, retention coefficient • TC, translocation coefficient

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JEQ 2005 34: v. [Full Text]