Plutonium in the Marine Environment

Plutonium in North Atlantic Ocean Organisms Ecological Relationships.

“…The concentration factor is very similar to that found for Mytilus callfornianus (mean value=260; range: 230-290) by Pillai, et al (1964) and that we found in the brown or horse mussel from Cape Cod, The similar concentration factor found, for a species separated by both time and environment, suggests Mytilus, for the most part, regulates its plutonium content in relation to the concentration in the water rather than other sources such as the sediments.…”

“…The shell has, on the average, 64% more plutonium than the same weight of body. It Is significant to note that the levels of ^'^^Pu formed by Pillai, et al (1964) in Mytilus, (collected in 1964) were less than 1/2 those of our 1970 samples. Fallout plutonium concentrations in the mussel have increased a factor of two in six years whereas deposition, as recorded In Tokyo (Miyake, et a I 1970) has Increased only by 25%.…”

“…The behavior and concentration of plutonium In the marine environment was relatively neglected until Pillai, et al (1964), finding significant concentration of…”

Retention of Fall-Out Constituents in Upper Layers of the Pacific Ocean as Estimated From Studies of a Tuna Population.

“…Very little data has been available concerning plutonium-239 concentrations in oceanic fish [19,20], Plutonium has a build-up factor in albacore livers somewhat like caesixm. Unfortunately, lew activities of about 0.1 pCi/ wet kilogram necessitate very large samples.…”

Laboratory experiments on the transfer dynamics of plutonium from marine sediments to sea water and to marine organisms

“…Pillai et al (1964) Weiss et al (1956) and Gong et al (1957) reported that clams are good biological indicators of radionuclide contamination of marine waters. Their conclusion was based upon the ability of these animals to concentrate radionuclides introduced into marine waters in fallout.…”