Effective half-lives of 137Cs in giant butterbur and field horsetail, and the distribution differences of potassium and 137Cs in aboveground tissue parts

Abstract

Concentrations of 137Cs and 40K in different tissues of edible wild herbaceous plants, that is, leaf blade and petiole for giant butterbur (Petasites japonicas (Siebold et Zucc.) Maxim.), and leaf, stem and strobilus for fertile shoot of field horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) were measured in 2012–2014 to clarify the effect in Japan from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. The concentrations of 137Cs decreased with time with effective half-lives of ca. 450 d and 360 d for giant butterbur and field horsetail, respectively. The ANOVA test revealed that 40K and 137Cs distributions in leaf blade and petiole for giant butterbur and leaf and stem for field horsetail were different. Therefore, other plants, leaf and stem for Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr.) and Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis L.), and leaf blade and petiole for gingko (Ginkgo biloba L.) and Someiyoshino cherry (Cerasus × yedoensis (Matsum.) A.V.Vassil. ‘Somei-yoshino’) were collected from the same sampling field and their 137Cs and 40K concentrations were compared to those in the giant butterbur and field horsetail parts. For 137Cs, concentrations in leaf blade and leaf parts were 1.1–6.0 times higher than those in petiole and stem parts for all six plants. On the other hand, 40K concentrations in leaf blade and leaf parts were 0.40–0.97 of those observed in petiole and stem parts. Discrimination ratios of 40K/137Cs of leaf blade to petiole or leaf to stem were then calculated and they ranged from 0.09 to 0.57. These results suggested that Cs and K did not behave similarly in these plants. Thus, to understand the radiocesium fate in plants, K measurement results should not be used as an analog for Cs behavior although Cs is known to have a similar chemical reactivity to that of K.