Uptake of strontium by chamisa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) shrub plants growing over a former liquid waste disposal site at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Conference
·
OSTI ID:251309
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States). Environment, Safety and Health Div.
A major concern of managers at low-level waste burial site facilities is that plant roots may translocate contaminants up to the soil surface. This study investigates the uptake of strontium ({sup 90}Sr), a biologically mobile element, by chamisa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus), a deep-rooted shrub plant, growing in a former liquid waste disposal site (Solid Waste Management Unit [SWMU] 10-003[c]) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, New Mexico. Surface soil samples were also collected from below (understory) and between (interspace) shrub canopies. Both chamisa plants growing over SWMU 10-003(c) contained significantly higher concentrations of {sup 90}Sr than a control plant--one plant, in particular, contained 3.35 x 10{sup 6} Bq kg{sup {minus}1} ash (9.05 x 10{sup 4} pCi g{sup {minus}1} ash) in top-growth material. Similarly, soil surface samples collected underneath and between plants contained {sup 90}Sr concentrations above background and LANL screening action levels (> 218 Bq kg{sup {minus}1} dry [5.90 pCi g{sup {minus}1} dry]); this probably occurred as a result of chamisa plant leaf fall contaminating the soil understory area followed by water and/or winds moving {sup 90}Sr to the soil interspace areas. Although some soil surface migration of {sup 90}Sr from SWMU 10-003(c) has occurred, the level of {sup 90}Sr in sediments collected downstream of SWMU 10-003(c) at the LANL boundary was still within regional (background) concentrations.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 251309
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--96-1510; CONF-9504135--4; ON: DE96010378
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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