As a result of the Great East Japan
Earthquake and associated tsunami
in March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) released
a large amount of radioactive material into the environment, resulting
in contamination of many marine organisms. In this study, 15 marine
algal species and a seagrass species were collected from the sublittoral
zone of the Iwaki Coast of Fukushima Prefecture from May 2012 to June
2015 and analyzed for variations in 110mAg, 134Cs, and 137Cs over time. The results indicated that (1) 110mAg, 134Cs, and 137Cs were present
in all marine plants collected in May 2012, (2) the concentration
of 110mAg in the seagrass Phyllospadix iwatensis decreased significantly over time while the ecological half-life
of 110mAg in P. iwatensis was longer at
locations closer to the FDNPP, and (3) the 110mAg/137Cs radioactivity ratio of P. iwatensis was
remarkably high until 2015, indicating that detectable 110mAg was present in the coastal environment 4 years after the accident.
The concentration of 110mAg in P. iwatensis was higher than those in other marine algae, demonstrating a species-specific
mechanism of accumulation.
Countless marine organisms were polluted with radioactive materials that were dispersed when the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) was damaged in 2011 by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The aim of this study was to determine the degree to which marine herbivorous sea urchins, Mesocentrotus nudus, were contaminated with radiocesium because of the accident. We collected samples of sea urchins from four locations in Fukushima prefecture (at the coast and offshore from the Yotsukura and Ena stations) and investigated how the 137Cs activity concentrations changed. The biological half-life (Tbio) of 137Cs in the individual sea urchins was between 121 and 157 days. The ecological half-life (Teco) of 137Cs was 181–423 days and was high in places close to the FDNPP. The Teco values in the sea urchins were longer than previously reported. The results infer that the food sources of the sea urchins around the Fukushima coast strongly influenced their uptake of 137Cs.
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