Radiocesium distribution in bamboo shoots after the Fukushima nuclear accident

PLoS One. 2014 May 15;9(5):e97659. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097659. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The distribution of radiocesium was examined in bamboo shoots, Phyllostachys pubescens, collected from 10 sites located some 41 to 1140 km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan, in the Spring of 2012, 1 year after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Maximum activity concentrations for radiocesium ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs in the edible bamboo shoot parts, 41 km away from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, were in excess of 15.3 and 21.8 kBq/kg (dry weight basis; 1.34 and 1.92 kBq/kg, fresh weight), respectively. In the radiocesium-contaminated samples, the radiocesium activities were higher in the inner tip parts, including the upper edible parts and the apical culm sheath, than in the hardened culm sheath and underground basal parts. The radiocesium/potassium ratios also tended to be higher in the inner tip parts. The radiocesium activities increased with bamboo shoot length in another bamboo species, Phyllostachys bambusoides, suggesting that radiocesium accumulated in the inner tip parts during growth of the shoots.

MeSH terms

  • Cesium Radioisotopes / analysis*
  • Food Contamination
  • Fukushima Nuclear Accident*
  • Geography
  • Japan
  • Nuclear Power Plants
  • Poaceae / radiation effects*
  • Potassium / chemistry
  • Radiation Monitoring / methods*
  • Soil Pollutants
  • Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*

Substances

  • Cesium Radioisotopes
  • Soil Pollutants
  • Soil Pollutants, Radioactive
  • Potassium

Grants and funding

The authors have no support or funding to report.