Influence of Trophic Level and Calcification on the Uptake of Plutonium Observed, in situ, in Marine Organisms

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Abstract
A study has been made of the transport mechanisms of plutonium in the marine environment. This work has shown that a relationship exists between the concentration of plutonium in marine plant and animal species and the trophic level of these organisms; this relation is evidenced by a decrease in the concentration of the radioelement as the trophic level of the species increases. Three modes of transport—via water, sediment and food—have been studied. Direct contact between sea water and organisms, the principal mode of transfer to marine species belonging to lower trophic levels (the primary producers and consumers), seems to play an important role in the uptake of plutonium. On the other hand, the sediment in contact with which certain species live does not appear to constitute an important transfer vector. The trophic relations between animal species lead one to assume that plutonium is transported also via the food-chain without necessarily implying that there is a concentration of the radioelement along the whole chain leading from the primary producers to the tertiary consumers. In addition, we have been able to establish that there is a relation between the rate of plutonium uptake and the calcified structures of certain marine species comparable to that which exists in the bone tissue of terrestrial mammals.