RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Disproportional distribution of radioactive elements in the marine ecosystems surrounding the accident site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 106211
DO 10.1101/106211
A1 Shigeharu Moriya
A1 Hideaki Otsu
A1 Kumiko Kihara
A1 Yukari Kato
A1 Misao Itouga
A1 Kenji Sakata
A1 Jun Kikuchi
A1 Hiroshi Yamakawa
A1 Jiro Suga
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/02/07/106211.abstract
AB Background After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, various surveys were performed to measure the extent of radioactive material contamination in the marine sediments, surface waters, plankton and fish. Six months after the event, relatively high radiocesium contamination could still be detected in the fish and sediment of the coastal demersal environment. To determine the distribution of radioactive material in the demersal ecosystem adjacent to the event, we sampled and analyzed the dominant macroorganisms attached to the seafloor as well as environmental material, including biofilms, from the coastal demersal environment around Hisanohama Port, which is less than 30 km south of the accident site.Results Our results showed that variable ratios of radiosilver/radiocesium occurred in the macrobenthos, macroalgae and sediment samples. However, the biofilm samples displayed high radiocesium contamination but did not show radiosilver contamination.Conclusions These findings suggest that several different entry paths are available for radioactive elements to access the biological components of the ecosystem, and these paths may explain the disproportional and patchy distribution of radioactive elements among marine ecosystems.