Differential microbial roles in the organic layer and mineral soil determine radioactive cesium fate in forest ecosystems

Koarashi, Jun; Nagano, Hirohiko*; Nakayama, Masataka*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Nagaoka, Mika

Chemosphere, 389, p.144715_1 - 144715_11, 2025/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2025.144715

Radiocesium (Cs) contamination poses a long-term ecological challenge, particularly in forest ecosystems. The role of soil microorganisms in determining its fate remains insufficiently understood. This study presents a dynamic assessment of microbial Cs retention, focusing on the complex interplay among microorganisms, organic matter, and clay minerals within the organic layer-mineral soil system. Our results show that rapid microbial cycling sustains a potentially bioavailable Cs pool in the organic layer. This microbial involvement diminishes as Cs activity concentrations in the organic layer decline. In the mineral soil, minimal microbial Cs retention was observed, suggesting an indirect role in facilitating Cs immobilization by clay minerals. Notably, microbial Cs retention in the organic layer is regulated by Cs availability, independent of region, forest type, and time since deposition. These findings provide a unified explanation for observed differences in Cs persistence in organic layers between European and Japanese forests.

Advances in understanding cesium retention on calcium silicate material

Rizaal, M.; Nakajima, Kunihisa

Chemosphere, 363, p.142870_1 - 142870_9, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142870

Occurrence of radioactive cesium-rich micro-particles (CsMPs) in a school building located 2.8 km south-west of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Fueda, Kazuki*; Komiya, Tatsuki*; Minomo, Kenta*; Horie, Kenji*; Takehara, Mami*; Yamasaki, Shinya*; Shiotsu, Hiroyuki; Onuki, Toshihiko*; Grambow, B.*; Law, G. T. W.*; et al.

Chemosphere, 328, p.138566_1 - 138566_12, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138566

Testing mosses exposed in bags as biointerceptors of airborne radiocaesium after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station accident

Di Palma, A.; Adamo, P.*; Dohi, Terumi; Fujiwara, Kenso; Hagiwara, Hiroki; Kitamura, Akihiro; Sakoda, Akihiro; Sato, Kazuhiko; Iijima, Kazuki

Chemosphere, 308, Part 1, p.136179_1 - 136179_13, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136179

The present study shows the use of mosses transplanted in bags, called as moss bags, as biosensors of airborne radioactive dusts in the environment of the evacuated zone of Fukushima. A standardized protocol was applied and three moss species were used. Background sites of Okayama Prefecture were used for comparison. In the Fukushima area, the moss bags were able to accumulate radiocaesium in all exposure sites and periods, with Sphagnum palustre moss acting as the most performant moss. The radiocaesium activity concentrations dectected in mosses were in strong agreement with the Cs deposition levels and decontamination status of each exposure site. The accumulation of soil-derived radiocaesium by moss bags was supported by autoradiography and electron microscopy analyses. The linear dependency of Cs accumulation with the exposure time allowed a radiocaesium quantitative assessment.

Radiocesium in Shiitake mushroom; Accumulation in living fruit bodies and leaching from dead fruit bodies

Guido-Garcia, F.; Sakamoto, Fuminori; David, K.*; Kozai, Naofumi; Grambow, B.

Chemosphere, 279, p.130511_1 - 130511_10, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130511

Cesium (Cs) accumulation by Shiitake was investigated to contribute to the elucidation of radiocesium-cycling mechanisms in forest environments. The results demonstrate that Shiitake non-specifically accumulates Cs while accumulating the essential element K and provide evidence that no selective Cs accumulation (or binding) sites exist within the Shiitake fruit body. Furthermore, the present results show that most accumulated Cs quickly leaches out from the dead fruit body with exposure to water. The leached Cs was largely adsorbable on clay minerals, suggesting that the Shiitake fruit body likely contains Cs in the cation form.

Effective removal of iodate by coprecipitation with barite; Behavior and mechanism

Tokunaga, Kohei; Takahashi, Yoshio*; Tanaka, Kazuya; Kozai, Naofumi

Chemosphere, 266, p.129104_1 - 129104_10, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.129104

Radioactive iodine (I) is of great concern owing to its high mobility in the environment and long-term radiotoxicity, but there is a lack of effective techniques for removing iodate (IO) from aqueous solution. The aim of this study is to develop a new technique for removing radioactive iodate from contaminated solution by using barite (BaSO). In the present study, we examined the coprecipitation mechanism of iodate by barite at the molecular level for determining optimum conditions for iodate removal. The results showed that iodate was effectively removed from aqueous solution by coprecipitation, even in the presence of competitive anions in solution. Comparing our method with previous studies, iodate removal efficiency by barite was determined to be about two orders of magnitude greater than that by hydrotalcite-like layered double hydroxide at Cl concentration of 10 mmol L. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis indicated that incorporated iodate was strongly bound in the crystal lattice of barite by substituting the sulfate site in the structure when the iodine concentration was low. The charge compensation problem from the IO substitution in SO site is achieved by the substitution of Na-IO pairs at the nearest Ba site. Therefore, considering high removal efficiency and strong binding of iodate in barite, coprecipitation with barite is a promising material for removing radioactive iodate from various aqueous solutions contaminated with iodate.

Biosurface properties and lead adsorption in a clone of (Mosses); Towards a unified protocol of biomonitoring of airborne heavy metal pollution

Di Palma, A.; Gonzlez, A. G.*; Adamo, P.*; Giordano, S.*; Reski, R.*; Pokrovsky, O. S.*

Chemosphere, 236, p.124375_1 - 124375_9, 2019/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124375

Radiocesium distribution in aggregate-size fractions of cropland and forest soils affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident

Koarashi, Jun; Nishimura, Shusaku; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Matsunaga, Takeshi*; Sato, Tsutomu*; Nagao, Seiya*

Chemosphere, 205, p.147 - 155, 2018/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.04.092

There is little understanding of how soil aggregation can affect the mobility and bioavailability of Cs in soils. To explore this, soil samples were collected at seven sites under different land-use conditions in Fukushima and were separated into four aggregate-size fractions. The fractions were then analyzed for Cs content and extractability and mineral composition. In forest soils, aggregate formation was significant, and Cs was largely associated with large-sized aggregates. In contrast, there was less aggregation in agricultural field soils, and most of Cs was in the clay- and silt-sized fractions. Across all sites, the Cs extractability was higher in the large-sized aggregate fractions than in the clay-sized fractions. The results demonstrate that large-sized aggregates are a significant reservoir of potentially mobile and bioavailable Cs in organic-rich (forest and orchard) soils.

Interaction of rare earth elements and components of the Horonobe deep groundwater

Kirishima, Akira*; Kuno, Atsushi*; Amamiya, Hiroki; Kubota, Takumi*; Kimuro, Shingo*; Amano, Yuki; Miyakawa, Kazuya; Iwatsuki, Teruki; Mizuno, Takashi; Sasaki, Takayuki*; et al.

Chemosphere, 168, p.798 - 806, 2017/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.10.133

For better understanding of the migration behavior of minor actinides (MA) in deep groundwater, the interaction of doped rare earth elements (REEs) and components in Horonobe deep groundwater was studied. Appx. 10 ppb of rare earth elements, i.e., Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Tm and Yb were doped to the sample groundwater collected from a packed sections in borehole drilled from 140 m depth experiment drift of Horonobe underground research laboratory (URL), Hokkaido, Japan. Then, that groundwater was sequentially filtrated by 0.2 micron pore filter, 10 kDa, 3 kDa and 1 kDa of nominal molecular weight limit (NMWL) ultrafilters by keeping inert condition. After that, the filtrate solutions were analyzed by ICP-MS to determine the concentrations of retained REEs at each filtration steps, while the used filters were analyzed by the neutron activation analysis (NAA) and TOF-SIMS element mapping to know the amount and chemical speciation of trapped fraction of the REEs on each filter. A remarkable relation between the retention ratios of REEs in the filtrate solutions and the ionic radius was observed, i.e., smaller rare earth element solves more in liquid phase under the Horonobe groundwater condition. NAA and TOF-SIMS analyses revealed that certain portions of REEs were trapped by 0.2 micron pore filters as rare earth phosphates which corresponded with the predicted predominant species by a chemical equilibrium calculation for the Horonobe groundwater condition, while small portions of colloidal REEs were trapped by 10 kDa and 3 kDa NMWL ultrafilters. The result suggested that phosphate anion plays an important role in the chemical behavior of REEs in saline (seawater based) groundwater, which could be referred for the prediction of migration behavior of trivalent actinide released from the repository of radioactive waste in far future.

Cesium-137 and mercury contamination in lake sediments

Matsunaga, Takeshi; Ueno, Takashi; R.Chandradjith*; Amano, Hikaru; ;

Chemosphere, 39(2), p.269 - 283, 1999/00

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0045-6535(99)00108-3

no abstracts in English