Variations in radioactive cesium accumulation in wheat germplasm from fields affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident

Abstract

Decreasing the transfer of radioactive cesium (RCs) from soil to crops has been important since the deposition of RCs in agricultural soil owing to the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident of 2011. We investigated the genotypic variation in RCs accumulation in 234 and 198 hexaploid wheat (Triticum spp.) varieties in an affected field in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The effects of soil exchangeable potassium (ExK) content to RCs accumulation in wheat varieties were also evaluated. A test field showed fourfold differences in soil ExK contents based on location, and the wheat varieties grown in areas with lower soil ExK contents tended to have higher grain RCs concentrations. RCs concentrations of shoots, when corrected by the soil ExK content, were positively significantly correlated between years, and RCs concentrations of shoots were significantly correlated with the grain RCs concentration corrected by the soil ExK content. These results indicated that there were genotypic variations in RCs accumulation. The grain to shoot ratio of RCs also showed significant genotypic variation. Wheat varieties with low RCs accumulations were identified. They could contribute to the research and breeding of low RCs accumulating wheat and to agricultural production in the area affected by RCs deposition. Radioactive cesium (RCs) isotopes 134 Cs and 137 Cs, which can be incorporated into the food chain, becoming a threat to human health 1 , are two of the major radionuclides released by the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Dai-ichi (No. 1) nuclear power plant (TEPCO's FDNPP), caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 11 March 2011 2. They dispersed into the environment, including agricultural land in eastern Japan, leading to concerns regarding the contamination of food with radioactive materials and their effects on human health. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare established a provisional maximum regulatory value for RCs in agricultural products at 500 Bq kg −1 on 17 March 2011. This was changed to 100 Bq kg −1 on 1 April 2012 3. Although incidents of RCs contamination greater than the regulatory value in agricultural products have been limited 4 , the radioactivity monitoring of agricultural products has continued in the affected areas because of the relatively long half-life (30.2 years) of 137 Cs. Studies and countermeasures to decrease RCs in agricultural products have been important in allowing the resumption of agricultural practices in the areas affected by RCs.

Cesium Treatment Depresses Glycolysis Pathway in HeLa Cell

“…Human intake of Cs is usually via food crops grown on arable land. Cs levels in rice, wheat, and soybeans were reported to be 0.0003-0.065 mg/kg-dry weight [2,3], approximately 0.1 mg/kg-dry weight [4], and 0.016-0.325 mg/kg-dry weight [5], respectively. It has been hypothesized that ingested Cs is distributed around the whole body.…”