Effect of the concentration of radiocesium dissolved in irrigation water on the concentration of radiocesium in brown rice

AbstractIn 2011, the radiocesium concentration of brown rice grown (Oryza sativa L.) in mountainous areas with irrigation water that flowed from a nearby mountain forest, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, exceeded 500 Bq kg–1. Migration of radiocesium from contaminated irrigation water was suspected. Here, we investigated the migration of dissolved radiocesium (137Cs) from irrigation water into brown rice by determining the concentration of 137Cs in brown rice grown in pots irrigated with water containing dissolved 137Cs (0.1, 1.0 or 10 Bq L–1 137Cs). The treatment water was prepared by extracting 137Cs from conifer branches collected from the contaminated area and diluting the stock solution with tap water. We used two Gray Lowland soils (soils A and B) collected from two paddy fields in Fukushima Prefecture. Rice plants (Oryza sativa L. cv. Hitomebore) were grown in pots and treatment water was kept at a depth of 3–5 cm throughout the growing season. We calculated the amount of 137Cs absorbed by the plant...