Radiocesium transfer rates among pigs fed haylage contaminated with low levels of cesium at two differentiation stages.

Chunxiang Piao,James K Chambers,Masayoshi Kuwahara,Atsushi Hirose,Junyou Li,Masanori Ikeda,Min Ma,Kazuyuki Uchida,Keitaro Tanoi,Natsuko I Kobayashi

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0237977

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the radiocesium transfer rates of pigs fed haylage contaminated with low levels of cesium at different growth stages. We measured the body weight of juvenile and adult pigs during the treatment period to confirm their health status. We also performed pig blood hematologic and biochemical analyses at both growth stages. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report pig radiocesium transfer coefficient rates after 1 month of chronic oral treatment, which is the period assumed to be required for body equilibrium under a diet of radiocesium-contaminated food. The results showed higher radiocesium retention rates in the kidneys, liver, spleen, genitals, psoas major, bladder, thyroid, and urine than in the blood and bone (tibia and femur) of pigs at both growth stages. The radiocesium retention levels were generally higher in juvenile pigs than in adult pigs, with the highest transfer coefficient ratio in the kidneys (16.2%).

Highlights

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, Japan
We examined radiocesium transfer rates in organ tissues of pigs fed with haylage contaminated with low levels of Cs for 1 month at different growth stages
Adult pigs were found to be in good health, with normal body weights (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, Japan. This earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami that destroyed local villages and took a devastating toll on human life. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, in which a nuclear reactor meltdown resulted in the release of large amounts of radioactive material, contaminating plants and animals in a wide surrounding area. The Animal Resource Science Center (ARSC) of the University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan) is located 140 km southwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Italian ryegrass that had been seeded in September 2010 was harvested in May 2011 as usual.

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