Conversion rate of HTO to OBT in plants

Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko  ; Amano, Hikaru; Ichimasa, Michiko*; Ichimasa, Yusuke*

In processes of tritium transfer in the environment, conversion of HTO to OBT in plant by photosynthesis is important for both aspects of monitoring and dose estimation. Because once OBT is formed in plant, it stays in the plant for longer time than HTO, and OBT is more harmful than HTO for human body. Conversion rate of HTO in plant leaf to OBT in plant edible parts in the open air were obtained for some plants (komatsuna, radish and cherry tomato) during the chronic HT release experiment at Chalk River in 1994. At the experiment, HT gas was released to the atmosphere at the cultivated site for 12 days continuously [1]. HTO and OBT concentration in cultivated plants were measured during the experiment. For plant leaves conversion rate of HTO to OBT was about 0.2 (% h) but it varied with their growth stage. A chamber experiment in laboratory was also carried out for comparison.