Entry of technetium-99 into the human food chain through the use of seaweed as soil conditioner

Abstract

The accumulation of Tc by Fucus vesiculosus and its subsequent use as a soil conditioner in coastal areas gives rise to a potential pathway for the transfer of Tc to terrestrial ecosystem and on to humans. Preliminary results from a small-scale study of the release of Tc from Fucus vesiculosus into a sandy, coastal soil suggest that around 20% of the Tc present in the seaweed is released within 17 days (2.7 weeks) of its addition to the soil, even though the decomposition rate, measured by die C0 2 production of soil microorganisms, remained low over that period. Further analyses will be carried out to determine the rate of Tc release in the latter part of the experiment when the decomposition rate had increased.