Cesium radioisotope content of wild edible fungi, mineral soil, and surface litter in western North America after the Fukushima nuclear accident
2014
Trappe, Matthew J. | Minc, Leah D. | Kittredge, Kimberly S. | Pink, Jeremias W.
We measured activity levels of radioisotopes cesium-134 (¹³⁴Cs) and cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) in wild edible fungi, mineral soil, and surface litter of the west coast of North America from southern California to northern Vancouver Island after the Fukushima nuclear accident. All activity measurements were below United States governmental limits for human health. ¹³⁷Cs activity increased to the north in mineral soils and fungal samples, whereas ¹³⁴Cs activity increased to the south in surface litter samples. Chanterelles (Cantharellus spp.) did not significantly bioconcentrate either radioisotope, but chanterelle activity levels were correlated with those of mineral soil. Activity levels demonstrated a high degree of variability, even in samples from the same site. In most cases, the level of ¹³⁷Cs activity was substantially higher than that of ¹³⁴Cs, suggesting that ¹³⁷Cs was present in the environment prior to the Fukushima release.
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