Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T02:00:06.570Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Enhancing the transfer of 238U and 226Ra from soils to Brassica juncea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2009

P. B. Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Natural Radioactivity Group, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
F. V. Tomé
Affiliation:
Natural Radioactivity Group, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
J. C. Lozano
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Radiactividad Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Get access

Abstract

In order to test the suitability of using Brassica juncea for the remediation by phytoextraction of soils contaminated with 238U and 226Ra, the transfer process to the plant was studied. A soil with high natural uranium mineralization was used for the study. When the soil was not manipulated, the transfer factor (TF) was 0.24 ± 0.02 and 1.5 ± 0.3 for 238U and 226Ra, respectively. These low values, especially for 238U, are due to the radionuclides being associated in the soils with fractions unavailable to the plant. For the possible use of phytoextraction for remediation of contaminated soils it is therefore necessary to enhance the availability of the radionuclides in the soil. In this sense, soil pH is a major factor influencing the availability of these elements in the soil for plant uptake through their speciation. In this work, the effect of pH on the TF of 238U and 226Ra was studied. Also, citrate was used to attempt to enhance the bioavailability of the two radionuclides in the soils, and therefore their uptake by Brassica juncea and translocation to the shoots.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency. Extent of Environmental Contamination by Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) and Technological Options for Mitigation. Technical Report Series nº 419 (2003).
Dushenkov, S., Vasudev, D., Kapulnik, Y., Gleba, D., Fleisher, D., Ting, K.C., Ensley, B., Environmental Science and Technology 31, 3468 (1997). CrossRef
M.M. Lasat, Journal Hazardous Substance. Research 2, 5/1 (2000).
Prasad, M.N.V., Freitas, H.M.O., Electronic Journal. Biotechnology 6, 285 (2003). CrossRef
Arthur, E.L., Rice, P.J., Anderson, T.A., Baladi, S.M., Henderson, K.L.D., Coats, J.R., Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 24, 109 (2005). CrossRef
D. Glass, in The 1998 United States Market for Phytoremediation (D. Glass Associates, Inc. Needham, M.A., 1998).
Garbisu, C., Alkorta, I., Bioresource Technology 77, 229 (2001). CrossRef
Lasat, M.M., Journal Environmental Quality 31, 109 (2002). CrossRef
Huang, J.W., Blaylock, M.J., Kapulnik, Y., Ensley, B.D., Environmental Science and Technology 32, 2004 (1998). CrossRef
UNSCEAR, Report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation to the General Assembly. United Nation Publications, New York (2000).
Bernhard, G., Landbauforschung Völkenrode 55, 139 (2005).
Niu, Z.-X., Sun, L.-N., Sun, T.-H., Li, Y.-S., Wang, H., Journal of Environmental Sciences 19, 961 (2007). CrossRef
U. Schmidt,. Journal of Environmental Quality 32, 1939 (2003).
Y. Chen, X. Li, Z. Shen, Chemosphere 57, 187(2004).
Soudek, P., Petrik, P., Vagner, M., Tykva, R., Plojhar, V., Petrova, S., Vanek, T., European Journal of Soil Biology 43, 251 (2007). CrossRef
Holm, E., Rioseco, J., García-León, M., Nuclear Instruments and Methods Physics Research 223, 204 (1984). CrossRef
Vera Tomé, F., Jurado Vargas, M., Martín Sánchez, A., Nuclear Instruments and Methods Physics Research A348, 183 (1994). CrossRef
Blanco Rodríguez, P., Lozano, J.C., Vera Tomé, F., Applied Radiation and Isotopes 57, 785 (2002). CrossRef
ICRU, Journal of the ICUR. Quantities, Units and Terms in Radioecology. ICRU Report 65, Ashford, Kent, England (2001).
Vera Tomé, F., Blanco Rodríguez, P., Lozano, J.C., Journal Environmental Radioactivity 65, 161 (2003). CrossRef
Prasad, M.N., Oliveira, M.H., Biotechnology, 6, 285 (2003).
Vandenhove, H., Van Hees, M., Wouters, K., Wannijn, J., Environmental Pollution 145, 587 (2007). CrossRef