Long-term decline of 137Cs concentration in honey in the second decade after the Chernobyl accident

Sci Total Environ. 2007 Aug 15;382(1):147-52. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.03.040. Epub 2007 May 21.

Abstract

In the years 2001-2004 the (137)Cs activity was investigated in a total of 336 samples of different varieties of honey harvested in the Liguria Region of Northern Italy. Our purpose was to define (a) residual radioactive contamination following the Chernobyl accident and (137)Cs long-term decline, (b) correlation between (137)Cs activity and different honey varieties, and (c) correlation between (137)Cs activity and the prevailing geomorphological configuration in the collection areas. The mean (137)Cs specific activity was 4.33+/-5.04 S.D. Bq/kg. Chestnut honey showed higher levels of radioactive contamination, which were ascribed to the extensive, superficial and deep, root apparatus of the tree. Honey samples from acidic argillite soils, which withhold radionuclides after deposition and slowly release them to plants, also showed higher (137)Cs activity. Long-term decline was calculated at 456 days, a value lower than those published from different food sources in the years following the accident. The rate of long-term decline decreases with time.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers
  • Cesium Radioisotopes / analysis*
  • Chernobyl Nuclear Accident*
  • Food Contamination, Radioactive / analysis*
  • Honey / analysis*
  • Italy
  • Radiation Monitoring*
  • Radioactive Fallout / analysis

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Cesium Radioisotopes
  • Radioactive Fallout