Accumulation Of Radium Research Articles

Concentration and chemical distribution of radium in plants from monazite-bearing soils

The behavior of radium, one of the main natural radionuclides which enters the food chain, was investigated in plants growing in monazite-bearing soils. Massive accumulation of radium was observed to occur in the roots. The quantity of radium translocated to the shoots was significantly less. Concentration ratio values obtained for shoots and roots ranged from 0.01 to 3.36 and 0.05 to 2.86, respectively. Concentrations of radium in the plants are discussed in terms of soil acidity and availability of calcium, a chemically similar stable element in the external milieu. Study of the chemical state of radium in the plant tissues collected from monazite-bearing soils indicated that significant amounts of radium were associated in ionic forms.

The accumulation of radium, barium and lead in algae

A mixture of radium-224, lead-212 and barium-133 as well as a mixture of lead-210 and bismuth-210 were used for the investigation of these elements in algae Scenedesmus obliquus in dependence of equilibrium pH in the absence and in the presence of other salts. It has been found that the affinity constant KM decreases in the following order (lg KM values are given in parentheses): Ra2+ (5.1), Ba2+ (4.8), Sr2+ and Ca2+ (4.6), Mg2+ (4.2), Cs+, Rb+ and NH4+ (2.9), K+ (2.7), Na+ (2.6) and Li+ (2.4). The uptake of lead and bismuth is more complicated because of the accumulation of free cations as well as hydroxo complexes.

Radium accumulation in animal thyroid glands a possible method for uranium and thorium prospecting

A method of prospecting for uranium and thorium is proposed based on uptake of their radioactive daughters226Ra and228Ra by plants, the collection of plant material by herbivores, the concentration of the radioactive species by specific animal tissues, and the subsequent gamma-ray analysis of the tissues.