Abstract
From the point of view of biological toxicity the most toxic radionuclides are man‐made 90Sr and 137Cs because the behavoir of both of them is similar to stable calcium and potassium in the body. Fish is the last part of the hydrosystem chain which accumulates pollutants. The aim of this study was to analyse the distribution of these two radionuclides in the muscle and other organs of perch and roach that differ by age and living conditions. Measurements were performed for 137Cs and 90Sr activity concentrations in fishes from the lakes of Drūkšiai, Lūkstas and Dusia. Radioecological investigation was carried out for different age groups of roach and perch analysing samples of muscle and spine bones (including the head of fish). Radioecological investigation of fishes from the lakes of Drūkšiai, Lūkstas and Dusia show that the activity concentrations of 137Cs and 90Sr are low. Anyway, the accumulated radioactivity by food chain reaches the human body. Nowadays a lot of investigations are related to the lakes in the vicinity of Ignalina NPP. The investigation shows that the activity concentrations of 137Cs and 90Sr in fishes from the Drūkšiai lake are the same as in fishes from other lakes in other locations of Lithuania.
Highlights
The whole nature is constantly affected by radionuclides of cosmic origin and those from the Earth’s crust
Food products are connected with the environment by a food chain which is shorter for vegetables and longer for meat, milk or fish
Activity concentration of 137Cs in the muscles of predatory fishes from the lakes of Drūkšiai, Lūkstas and Dusia was in the range 1,39÷3,16 Bq/kg of net weight, that of 90Sr – in the range 0,08÷1,23 Bq/kg of net weight
Summary
The whole nature is constantly affected by radionuclides of cosmic origin and those from the Earth’s crust. After releases of man-made radionuclides to the environment humans realized that this may be the reason for cancer, genetic disturbances and other diseases [1]. Man-made radionuclides appeared in the environment after the first nuclear bomb tests in the atmosphere, later – during operation of nuclear installations and accidents at nuclear power plants. Long-lived radionuclides are the most dangerous from the point of view of the ecology. All food products are connected in different ways with the components of the environment: air, water, soil and plants growing in the soil. The way of behavior of two of long-lived radionuclides – 90Sr (strontium) and 137Cs (cesium) – is the same as their stable isotopes calcium and potassium that are in the human body
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