Technetium in Micro-organisms

The role of micro-organisms in the behaviour of radionuclides in aquatic and terrestrial systems and their possible transfer to man through the food chain has been discussed, on the basis of recent literature, in a previous work [1]. Moreover, multidisciplinary investigations were realised in our laboratories on the uptake of technetium by unicellular organisms, plants and animals [2–9]. Although the extrapolation of results obtained under artificial conditions to situations occurring in the ecosystem may be difficult, experimental work is nevertheless necessary for a better understanding of biological processes, which affect the behaviour of radionuclides.