Radiocesium migration to agricultural products by resuspended matter

Nihei, Naoto*; Yoshimura, Kazuya  ; Nakanishi, Tomoko*

The purpose of this study was to assess radiocesium migration to crops caused by external adsorption and internal absorption and to analyze the fallout matter to show the cause of the radiocesium migration. Japanese mustard spinach was cultivated using noncontaminated soil and water in a pot at six sites in Fukushima prefecture in 2018. The plants were washed with water after havesting, and then measured radiocesium concentration which was supposed to indicate internal absorption. Fallout matter was also collected using basins filled with water during the cultivation. The radiocesium concentrations in spinach varied with the cultivation place and time. Most radiocesium in the fallout matter was in the suspended phase, but the radiocesium concentration in the spinach was highly correlated with the dissolved radiocesium in the fallout matter. Internal absorption is considered to absorb dissolved radiocesium in the fallout matter from leaves directly or from roots indirectly.