Th, U, Ra and rare earth element distribution in farm animal tissues from an elevated natural radiation background environment

Abstract

A field study was conducted in an area of elevated natural background radioactivity (the Pocos de Caldas plateau, Brazil) to assess tissue concentrations and the comparative bioavailability of isotopic Th (IV), U (IV, VI), Ra (II) and light rare earth elements (REE), i.e. La (III) and Ce (III, IV) in adult steers, pigs and chickens. Among animals, analyses are limited primarily to bone and muscle since they represent the major loci for deposition/retention and transport to man, respectively. The assessment of comparative bioavailability was aided by normalizing tissue concentrations to local soil concentrations, i.e. by calculating soil-to-tissue concentration ratios (CRs). Mean CRs (for muscle/soil) in these animals were very similar for U, La and Th which, as a group, decreased among the farm animals sampled as (all × 10 −4): chicken (1)/>- steer(0·7) />- pig (0·4). For 226Ra, CRs in muscle decreased in the same order among animals although mean values were 3–5 times greater than those quoted. Much greater values and greater differences among the elements are noted for bone/soil CRs, which for all animals decreased as: Ra >> U > La = Th, indicating the order of elemental bioavailability (assuming bone to be the major retention compartment). Isotopic ratios in farm animal tissue are shown to resemble closely those in soils over which the animals forage, with few exceptions, indicating the importance of the soil component in the transfer of these elements to tissues.