Uptake of 134Cs in the shoots of Amaranthus tricolor and Amaranthus cruentus

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) 2003, Vol.125 (3), p.305-312
• Main Authors: Tang, Shirong, Chen, Ziyuan, Li, Hongyan, Zheng, Jiemin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 134Cs; Amaranthus - drug effects; Amaranthus - growth & development; Amaranthus - metabolism; Amaranthus cruentus; Amaranthus tricolor; Ammonium Sulfate - pharmacology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Cesium Radioisotopes - pharmacokinetics; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on plants and fungi; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Non agrochemicals pollutants; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant Shoots - drug effects; Plant Shoots - metabolism; Pollution effects and side effects of agrochemicals on crop plants and forest trees. Other anthropogenic factors; Pollution effects. Side effects of agrochemicals; Potassium - analysis; Soil - analysis; Soil Pollutants, Radioactive - pharmacokinetics; Species Specificity; Uptake
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/S0269-7491(03)00124-6

Amaranthus tricolor and Amaranthus cruentus responded differently to 134Cs and addition of (NH 4) 2SO 4. Amaranthus tricolor L. and Amaranthus cruentus L. were grown in pots containing 7.5 kg soils artificially contaminated with three levels of 134Cs activity: 5.55×10 5 Bq pot −1, 1.11×10 6 Bq pot −1, and 1.665×10 6 Bq pot −1, respectively. Forty-nine days after sowing and growth, plants were harvested. The plants growing in soils with increasing 134Cs concentrations showed increasing concentration of this radionuclide in shoots. There were significant differences in uptake of 134Cs applied to soils between and within the plant species, depending on the initial 134Cs concentrations. The plant species showed different responses to the addition of (NH 4) 2SO 4 to soils. Biomass production of both species was reduced in pots treated with (NH 4) 2SO 4. (NH 4) 2SO 4 application decreased the uptake of 134Cs by A. tricolor but increased the accumulation of 134Cs by A. cruentus, showing that chemicals with the highest efficiency to enhance the desorption of 134Cs might play an unexpected role in transferring the radionuclide to shoots.