Secondary radiocesium contamination of agricultural products by resuspended matter

Nihei, Naoto*; Yoshimura, Kazuya  ; Okumura, Taiga*; Tanoi, Keitaro*; Iijima, Kazuki  ; Kogure, Toshihiro*; Nakanishi, Tomoko*

Komatsuna () was cultivated in pots using non-contaminated soil and water, and the pots were arranged 30, 60, and 120 cm above the ground surface. The experiment site was located 4.5 km from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and had an ambient dose rate of approximately 1.4 Sv/h. The radiocesium concentration in the above ground parts without washing ranged from 22 to 333 Bq/kg (dry weight). The radiocesium concentration in the washed plants was predominantly lower than in the un-washed plants. Komatsuna cultivated lower to the ground tended to have a higher radiocesium concentration. Therefore, it can be posited that radiocesium detected in Komatsuna leaves was derived from ground surface.