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Transfer of Fallout Cesium‐137 from Soil to Dairy Cattle Feeds
Author(s) -
Johnson James E.,
Wilson Daniel W.,
Lindsay Willard L.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1966.03615995003000030036x
Subject(s) - hay , sorghum , agronomy , pasture , environmental science , greenhouse , caesium , grassland , deposition (geology) , contamination , zoology , biology , chemistry , sediment , organic chemistry , paleontology , ecology
Corn ( Sorghum vulgare ) seedlings were grown in a greenhouse in the upper 5 cm of soil taken from a permanent pasture containing a cumulative fallout deposition of Cs 137 of 80,000 pc/m 2 . No detectable Cs 137 (< 10 pc/kg) was found in the plants. On the other hand, corn plants growing in local fields contained 1,500 pc/kg of Cs 137 . It was concluded from these studies that the Cs 137 content of dairy cattle feeds resulted largely from direct foliar contamination, and that uptake from the soil reservoir was unimportant. Further, the comparable alfalfa hay crops in years since 1963 have been decreasing in Cs 137 level, while the top soil Cs 137 concentration has increased steadily during this period.