Interactions of marine plankton with transuranic elements. 1. biokinetics of neptunium, plutonium, americium, and californium, in phytoplankton

Journal Article · Sun May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1983 · Limnol. Oceanogr.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1983.28.3.0432· OSTI ID:7012837

Fischer, N S; Bjerregaard, P; Fowler, S W

The abilities of seven clones of marine phytoplankton, belonging to six different algal classes, to accumulate transuranic elements were evaluated in laboratory culture experiments. Plutonium, americium, and californium were rapidly concentrated by all species, resulting in volume/volume concentration factors generally > 10/sup 5/ for all species and all isotopes. Two natural assemblages from the coastal Mediterranean behaved like the algal cultures. Uptake of isotope was directly proportional to the number os suspended particles and the isotope concentration in the culture. Equilibrium isotope concentrations differed between species, reflecting different numbers of transuranic binding sites on the cell surfaces. Elimination proceeded in two phases, a rapid initial loss and then a slower release. The biological half-life for Am turnover in the slowly exchanging compartment in the diatom was 10-12 days. No substantial differences in uptake were noted between cultures receiving Pu in the III-IV and V-VI oxidation states. In contrast to the other elements, neptunium showed no detectable accumulation by any of the cells. The results suggest that Pu, Cf, and Am would associate with marine particles which could transport them vertically, transfer them into the marine food web, or both, while Np would behave essentially conservatively in seawater.

• Research Organization: International Lab. of Marine Radioactivity, Monaco
• OSTI ID: 7012837
• Journal Information: Limnol. Oceanogr.; (United States), Vol. 28:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AMERICIUM 241
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CALIFORNIUM 252
NEPTUNIUM 235
PHYTOPLANKTON
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
PLUTONIUM 237
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
SEAWATER
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CALIFORNIUM ISOTOPES
DATA
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
NEPTUNIUM ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANKTON
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RADIOISOTOPES
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
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