Pollution of radiocesium and radiosilver in wharf roach (Ligia sp.) by the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

• Published in: Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry Vol. 311; no. 1; pp. 121 - 126
• Main Authors: Qiu, Xuchun, Undap, Suzanne Lydia, Honda, Masato, Sekiguchi, Toshio, Suzuki, Nobuo, Shimasaki, Yohei, Ando, Hironori, Sato-Okoshi, Waka, Wada, Toshihiro, Sunobe, Tomoki, Takeda, Satoshi, Munehara, Hiroyuki, Yokoyama, Hisashi, Momoshima, Noriyuki, Oshima, Yuji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.01.2017; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accidents; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coastal zone; Diagnostic Radiology; Ecological monitoring; Electric power plants; Environmental monitoring; Green technology; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Inorganic Chemistry; Ligia; Marine biology; Nuclear accidents; Nuclear Chemistry; Nuclear electric power generation; Nuclear energy; Nuclear Physics; Nuclear power plants; Physical Chemistry; Pollution; Radiation measurement; Wharves; INW, Japan, Honshu; Cs; Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident; sp; Ag; Bioindicator
• ISSN: 0236-5731; 1588-2780
• DOI: 10.1007/s10967-016-4879-1

Radionuclide concentrations in wharf roaches inhabiting coastal areas of Honshu, Japan, were investigated in October 2011 and June 2012. Relative high concentrations of 110m Ag (2.1–127 Bq kg-wet −1 ), 134 Cs (2.6–61 Bq kg-wet −1 ), and 137 Cs (3.5–92 Bq kg-wet −1 ) were detected in specimens from the eastern Honshu areas. Significantly lower 137 Cs concentrations (0.7–1.6 Bq kg-wet −1 ) were detected in specimens from western and northern Honshu. The decay-corrected 137 Cs concentration was significantly inversely correlated with the distance from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Thus, wharf roach may serve as a good bioindicator for monitoring radioactive contamination of its habitats.