Uptake of /sup 226/Ra by established vegetation and black cutworm larvae, Agrotis ipsilon (class Insecta: order Lepidoptera), on U mill tailings at Elliot Lake, Canada

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Health Phys.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-198807000-00003· OSTI ID:6822989

Clulow, F V; Dave, N K; Lim, T P; Cloutier, N R

Radium-226 levels in samples from an inactive U tailings site at Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada, were: 9140 +/- 500 mBq g-1 dry weight in the substrate; 62 +/- 1 mBq g-1 dry weight in rye, Secale cereale, and less than 3.7 mBq g-1 dry weight in oats, Avena sativa, the dominant species established by revegetation of the tailings; and 117 +/- 7 mBq g-1 dry weight in washed and unwashed black cutworm larvae. Concentration ratios were: vegetation to tailings 0.001-0.007; black cutworms to vegetation 3.6 and black cutworms to tailings 0.01. The values are considered too low to be considered a hazard to herring gulls, Larus argentatus, which occasionally feed on cutworms.

• Research Organization: Laurentian Univ., Sudbury, Ontario (Canada)
• OSTI ID: 6822989
• Journal Information: Health Phys.; (United States), Vol. 55:1
• 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
LEPIDOPTERA
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
OATS
RADIUM 226
UPTAKE
RYE
LARVAE
MILL TAILINGS
ONTARIO
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
URANIUM MINES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ANIMALS
ARTHROPODS
CANADA
CEREALS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
GRASS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INSECTS
INVERTEBRATES
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
MINES
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
SOLID WASTES
TAILINGS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
560162* - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Animals
Plants
Microorganisms
& Cells
510300 - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)