Comparative Uptake of Uranium, Thorium, and Plutonium by Biota Inhabiting a Contaminated Tennessee Floodplain
- 1 April 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Environmental Quality
- Vol. 10 (2) , 207-210
- https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1981.00472425001000020017x
Abstract
The uptake of 238U, 232Th, and 239Pu from soil by rescue, grasshoppers, and small mammals was compared at the contaminated White Oak Creek floodplain in East Tennessee. Comparisons of actinide uptake were based on analyses of radionuclide ratios (U/Pu and Th/Pu) in soil and biota. U:Pu ratios in small mammal carcasses (shrews, mice, and rats) and bone samples from larger mammals (rabbit, woodchuck, opossum, and raccoon) were significantly greater (P ±0.05) than U/Pu ratios in soil (based on 8M HNO3 extractable). There was no significant difference between Th/Pu ratios in animals and soil. The order of actinide accumulation by biota from the site relative to contaminated soil was U > Th ≈ Pu.This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Compartment Model of Plutonium Dynamics in a Deciduous Forest EcosystemHealth Physics, 1978
- The Influence of DTPA on the Biological Availability of TransuranicsHealth Physics, 1978