Transfer factor of radioactive cesium to forage corn (Zea mays L.) from soil to which contaminated farmyard manure had been applied

AbstractRadioactive cesium (Cs) deposited after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident contaminated farmyard manure (FYM) in the wide area surrounding the plant. We conducted a field trial to determine the transfer factor of radioactive Cs to forage corn (Zea mays L.) from soil to which the contaminated FYM had been applied. The main purpose of this experiment was to examine the behavior of the radioactive Cs from contaminated FYM that was incorporated in agricultural fields. Application of FYM containing 3900 Bq kg−1 dry matter (DM) of cesium-137 (137Cs) at a rate of 4.3 kg m−2 increased the 137Cs concentration in the soil by 64 Bq kg−1 dry soil, and in the forage corn by 9.2 Bq kg−1 DM. Therefore, we calculated the transfer factor to corn plants from the soil after application of contaminated FYM to be 0.14. This value is lower than that observed for soil to which uncontaminated FYM had been applied as a control, and it is within the range of reported soil-to-plant transfer factors of 0.00...