Honeybees as monitors of low levels of radioactivity

Technical Report · Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6702610· OSTI ID:6702610

Simmons, M A ^[1]; Bromenshenk, J J; Gudatis, J L ^[2]

---

1. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
2. Montana Univ., Missoula, MT (USA). Dept. of Zoology

Large-scale environmental monitoring programs rely on sampling many media -- air, water, food, et cetera -- from a large network of sampling stations. For describing the total region possibly impacted by contaminants, the most efficient sampler would be one that covered a large region and simultaneously sampled many different media, such as water, air, soil, and vegetation. Honeybees have been shown to be useful monitors of the environment in this context for detecting both radionuclides and heavy metals. This study sought to determine the effectiveness of honeybees as monitors of low levels of radioactivity in the form of tritium and gamma-emitting radionuclides. For the study, approximately 50 honeybee colonies were placed on the Hanford Site and along the Columbia River in areas downwind of the site. The mini-hive colonies were sampled after 1 month and tested for tritium and for gamma-emitting radionuclides. From this and other studies, it is known that honeybees can be used to detect radionuclides present in the environment. Their mobility and their ability to integrate all exposure pathways could expand and add another level of confidence to the present monitoring program. 6 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/EH
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6702610
• Report Number(s): PNL-7348; ON: DE90014823
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540130 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540230* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540330 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AIR
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ANIMALS
ARTHROPODS
BEES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
COLUMBIA RIVER
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FLUIDS
GAMMA LOGGING
GASES
HANFORD RESERVATION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
HYMENOPTERA
INSECTS
INVERTEBRATES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MATERIALS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOACTIVITY LOGGING
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RIVERS
SOILS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
TRITIUM
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
WATER
WELL LOGGING
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES