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.
Highlights
On March 11, 2011, a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent tsunami along the Fukushima coast severely damaged the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in substantial release of radionuclides from the reactors
In April and May 2012, 23 bamboo shoots from Phyllostachys pubescens were collected at 10 sites within 41 (Date, Fukushima Prefecture) to 1140 km (Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture) of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (Table 1, Fig. 1a)
In the nine bamboo shoots collected within 440–1140 km of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the concentrations were below measurable limits (Table 1)
Summary
On March 11, 2011, a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent tsunami along the Fukushima coast severely damaged the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in substantial release of radionuclides from the reactors. About 2 years after the nuclear accident, radioactivity concentrations over 100 Bq/kg FW (this value has become an updated and temporary regulatory value as of 1st April 2012) were detected in new bamboo shoots collected in the affected areas and reported by MHLW on 5th April 2012 [13] and 6th March 2013 [14]. The radiocesium distributions in the bamboo shoots are not well understood Such distributional information would be helpful, in understanding radiocesium transfer in plant bodies, and in preventing human exposure from ingestion. In this pilot survey we examine the concentration distribution of radiocesium in bamboo shoots collected throughout Japan after the Fukushima nuclear accident
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