Radioactivity in Some Aquatic Plants

Abstract

THE significance of radionuclides in organisms of marine and fresh water environments has been discussed by Seymour¹, Krumholz², and many others³. Samples of marine animals from the western central Pacific Ocean have been found to accumulate fission products, such as cerium-144 and zirconium-95. Lowman et al.⁴ have pointed out that induced isotopes of the essential trace elements, such as manganese-54, iron-55, cobalt-60 and zinc-65, form a large part of the total radioactivity present in Pacific plankton and fishes. The passage of radionuclides from the primary producers, various attached plants and phyto-plankton, through grazing animals to larger predators, presents many important problems⁵. Laboratory experiments have recently shown that algae accumulate appreciable levels of radionuclides from radiation-contaminated waters^6,7. Long-lived nuclides impounded in stationary bodies of water are probably available for the rest of their physical half-lives for incorporation into aquatic flora and fauna. The long-range effects on life in natural water can only be surmised.