National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1963. Behavior of Radioactive Fallout in Soils and Plants. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18567.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1963. Behavior of Radioactive Fallout in Soils and Plants. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18567.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1963. Behavior of Radioactive Fallout in Soils and Plants. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18567.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1963. Behavior of Radioactive Fallout in Soils and Plants. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18567.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1963. Behavior of Radioactive Fallout in Soils and Plants. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18567.
×
Page R5

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

L 753 .R33 F'73 1.963 F re re , Man r .1;: e H . The' b^havicr c..f radioarti fallju.t in v.oils and pla uoi Academy of Sciences—National Research Council COMMITTEES ON THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION In 1955, Dr. Detlev W. Bronk, President of the National Academy of Sciences, appointed a group of scientists to conduct an extended appraisal of the effects of high-energy radiations on living organisms. Since the beginning, the studies have been supported from funds provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. The over-all study has been divided into six parts, each being considered by a separate Com- mittee. The areas under consideration are (1) genetics, (2) pathology, (3) agriculture and food supplies, (4) meteorology, (5) oceanography and fisheries, and (6) disposal of radioactive wastes. The Committees themselves do not perform research; like many other NAS-NRC committees, they maintain appropriate surveillance within their own fields; evaluate, in the light of their own experience and judgment, the significance of reported findings; and recommend effective programs of action. In consequence, the published reports not only summarize present knowledge but may also recommend needed research, reveal areas of concern or confidence, and project larger prob- lems associated with potential hazards of the future. The reports vary greatly in the extent of technical detail they contain. Some are intended for the lay reader, to tell the citizen what science has learned about the potential effects of atomic radiation on himself, his progeny, and the race as a whole, so that he may participate more intelligently in making decisions about atomic energy. Others contain the results of specialized studies, made by the Committees, of various aspects of the problems. This study will be a continuing one, since many of the problems involve basic scientific questions that will take many years to answer. New questions may be expected to arise as the uses of atomic energy continue to expand. The members of the Committees, numbering more than 100, are among the most distinguished scientists in their fields in the United States. They have given generously of their time and talents in making these analyses. They serve as individuals, contributing their knowledge and judgment as scientists and as citizens — not as representatives of any institution, company, or Government agency with which they may be affiliated. The studies have been greatly assisted by consultations with many authorities in private and Government organizations. Following is a list of the Committees participating in this study and their chairmen: COMMITTEE ON GENETIC EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION James F. Crow, University of Wisconsin COMMITTEE ON PATHOLOGIC EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION Shields Warren, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston COMMITTEE ON EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SUPPLIES A. G. Norman, University of Michigan COMMITTEE ON METEOROLOGIC ASPECTS OF EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION Lester Machta, U. S. Weather Bureau, Washington COMMITTEE ON EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION ON OCEANOGRAPHY AND FISHERIES Roger Revelle, University of California COMMITTEE ON DISPOSAL AND DISPERSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES Abel Wolman, Johns Hopkins University

/THE BEHAVIOR OF RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT IN SOILS AND PLANTS A Review Prepared for the Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation on Agriculture and Food Supplies National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council by M. H. Frere and R. G. Menzel Soil Scientists U. S. Soils Laboratory Agricultural Research Service U. S. Department of Agriculture Beltsville, Maryland K. H. Larson Chief Environmental Radiation Division Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology University of California Los Angeles, California Roy Overstreet Professor of Soil Chemistry Department of Soils and Plant Nutrition University of California Berkeley, California R. F. Reitemeier Soil Scientist Division of Biology and Medicine U. S. Atomic Energy Commission Washington, D. C. OO Publication 1092 National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council Washington, D. C. 1963

MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE ON EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SUPPLIES A. G. Norman, Chairman University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan C. L. Comar, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York George W. Irving, Jr., U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. James H. Jensen, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon J. K. Loosli, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York R. L. Loworn, North Carolina State College, Raleigh, North Carolina Ralph B. March, University of California, Riverside, California George L. McNew, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Inc. , Yonkers, New York Roy Overstreet, University of California, Berkeley, California Kenneth B. Raper, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin H. A. Rodenhiser, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. W. Ralph Singleton, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia Ralph G. H. Siu, Office of the Quartermaster General, Washington, D. C. G Fred Somers, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware George F. Stewart, University of California, Davis, California Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 63-60065

FOREWORD Although man has always been exposed to some radiation from naturally- occurring radionuclides in his environment, and although the food he consumes has always carried some small burden of radioactivity, the coming of the "Atomic Age" has already brought with it a rise in the level of radiation to which man is exposed and the appearance of some new sources of radiation that did not in the past consti- tute a part of the natural background. The latter has been tacitly accepted as being of no great concern, even though the level of exposure may vary widely from place to place. The testing of nuclear weapons has resulted in the appearance in man's environment the world over of radionuclides not formerly present. Man's exposure to radiation is in part external—from the materials around him—but it is also in part internal, by reason of the ingestion of food and water having some radioactive components and the inhalation of radioactive particulates or gases in the atmosphere. The effects, if any, on the well-being of the individual "depend upon the radiation dose (and dose rate) delivered to various tissues and upon the radiosensitivity of the tissues. " This report deals with some of the early steps in the sequence of events that transfers radionuclides in the environment to the tissues of man in what has come to be referred to as the "food chain. " The food chain of man is not inherently more complicated than those of other organisms that are herbivorous or carnivorous. There is, however, the difference that man has considerable freedom of selection and, at least in industrialized countries, subsists on foods, fresh or processed, derived from diverse and often remote locations. The dietary exposure of man to radionuclides is therefore a most complex question that can be approached realisti- cally only by examining the principles involved in the various steps of the food chain. Recognizing the fact that the human diet is derived from the soil directly or indirectly through animals, the Committee sought to have prepared a comprehensive review of the fate of fallout radionuclides in cultivated soils and their transfer to or incorporation in crop plants growing thereon. This report is essentially a dis- cussion of the principles involved and makes no attempt at evaluation of hazards to man, which have been discussed elsewhere in reports prepared by the related Com- mittees on Pathological Effects and Genetic Effects of Atomic Radiation. A. G. Norman, Chairman Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation on Agriculture and Food Supplies iii

CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. GENERAL 2 HI. RELATIVE AVAILABILITY OF FALLOUT CONSTITUENTS 5 IV. SOIL REACTIONS 6 A. Adsorption 6 B. Desorption 6 C. Effects of Other Ions 7 D. pH Effects 7 E. Clays 7 F. Organic Matter 8 G. Fixation 8 H. Erosion 8 V. PLANT RELATIONS 9 A. Uptake 9 B. Translocation 9 C. Aerial Contamination 10 D. Plant-Base Absorption 11 E. Distribution in Plants 11 F. Species Differences 12 VI. RADIATION EFFECTS 13 A. External Radiation 13 B. Internal Radiation 13 VH. SOIL-PLANT RELATIONS 15 A. Basic Aspects 15 B. Competing and Carrier Cations 15 C. Distribution Factors 16 D. Effects of Clays and Anions 17 VIH. MANAGEMENT 18 A. The Effect of Liming 18 B. Fertilizers 18 C. Cultivation 18 D. Moisture 19 E. Prolonged Cropping 19 IX. SUMMARY 20 BIBLIOGRAPHY 22

Next: INTRODUCTION »
Behavior of Radioactive Fallout in Soils and Plants Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF
  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!